A URINE and blood-stained mattress and a diet of boiled potatoes and peas.

This is what York air enthusiast Andrew Jenkins faces daily in his Greek prison cell, the Evening Press has been told.

Andrew, 32, who was among the group of plane spotters arrested for espionage in the town of Kalamata last week, also has to buy his own bottled water and toilet paper, said his older brother, Stephen.

The family have had no direct contact with Andrew, but according to a message passed to them from the wife of one of the other prisoners the conditions they are being held in are said to be "mucky, to say the least".

"We are so worried about him", said Stephen, 45, who lives in Lancashire.

"He hasn't looked too clever in the pictures we have seen and we hope he is all right. It must be terrible for him stuck out there. He hasn't done anything wrong and we want to see him released as soon as possible."

Stephen said the family were increasingly frustrated by the lack of information on his brother's plight.

He said that Andrew was an enthusiast and was probably doing nothing more than simply trying to enjoy his hobby.

"When we were kids we were always being encouraged to go to air shows and we went all over the North of England looking at aeroplanes," he told the Evening Press in an exclusive interview.

"I am more into motorbikes now. When I go to events, I always try to get a look in the pits, and Andrew was just doing the equivalent with planes.

"We just want to see him back home, safe and sound."

The Greek foreign minister, George Papandreou, has raised hopes for the group after saying he hoped their case could be resolved soon.

And Andrew's lawyer Ioannis Zacharias has told Evening Press reporter Nick Hallissey, who is in Greece to cover the case, that he hopes the air enthusiast will be released by Wednesday morning.

Mr Zacharias stated that Andrew definitely did not take notes or pictures of aircraft at an air base near Kalamata, and was not a member of the group who had a frequency scanner.

Updated: 10:20 Saturday, November 24, 2001