"A plane spotter sits at the end of the runway with a pair of binoculars. We like to think we're a bit more sophisticated"

York air enthusiast Andy Jenkins, was jailed and faces allegations of spying after looking at Greek warplanes. But in an exclusive interview, he tells NICK HALLISSEY that the whole affair has been a mistake and that he is trying to see 'the funny side'

ANDY Jenkins is languishing in a cell beneath Kalamata police station with six other British tourists, awaiting news of espionage charges. Despite his predicament, he chuckles as he says: "The only pictures that Greek intelligence are looking at right now are my shots of the Elvington air show."

In the cell next door are five more British tourists and two Dutch nationals. All 14 were arrested as they toured an air base in Kalamata, happily fulfilling their unusual hobby.

Since then, these enthusiasts have made international headlines as the British Government scrambles to free them and as Greek intelligence ponders the evidence.

"Are we big news, then?" Andy asks. "There were a few photographers and reporters around when we went to court, but we couldn't see what was going on."

He and his cellmates are indeed big news but Andy insists they never should have been. In a rushed conversation on the phone, he mentions his innocence seven times.

"Everyone has been saying we took photos; we did not take a single photo at Kalamata," he says.

"We were just looking at the aircraft on the ground, as we had been invited to do. Neither had we taken any pictures at the two air shows we had been to earlier in the day, at Araxos and Andravidha.

"The only pictures on our cameras would have been some taken at the Athens War Museum, which had a plane outside, and at a scrap yard north of Athens, which had some planes in pieces. There would have been some from another museum, at Messalongi.

"Then, in my bag, there were these Elvington air show pictures. The Red Arrows. A Lancaster. And that is what the intelligence boys are sifting through at the moment. It's incredible."

It is hard not to laugh when you hear that; and indeed, Andy and his fellow inmates are in good spirits.

"You get some very black moments, of course you do, but most of the time we are trying to see the lighter side. We all know it's a mistake, and that we are completely innocent.

"It's peaks and troughs, but there's quite a bit of camaraderie; we're having a laugh whenever we can."

Andy claims that he and the other 13 were officially invited to attend the air shows by the Greek military, through the enthusiasts' Internet group, Touchdown Tours.

"We had an invitation from the Greek minister of defence," he adds. "You'd think that would be enough."

Moreover, Andy maintains that, after the events of September 11, Touchdown contacted the Greek authorities to check that their visit could still go ahead. "We got back confirmation from a brigadier general of the Greek Air Force that it would be quite all right to proceed," he adds.

Paul Coppin, who runs Touchdown, is among those in the cells, as is his wife, Lesley.

Andy accepts that some people will wonder why on earth he and the others were there in the first place, but he insists the visit was perfectly justifiable.

They had been on exactly the same trip the previous year. Andy has travelled throughout Europe on many occasions. And his trips to air bases in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Holland and Sweden, as well as others in Greece, were never challenged.

That all changed last Friday in the south-eastern Greek town of Kalamata. As they were preparing to leave, Andy says, they were suddenly surrounded by armed guards and "taken captive".

"It was a total shock," he adds. "And when we were told we were facing spy charges, even more so. Someone told us that spying carries a sentence of between five and 20 years in Greece.

"We all were sure nothing would come of it, but as soon as I heard that, I started thinking of my daughter, my friends, and my dad."

Since then, the party has received more reassuring news. The British consul has spoken to each of them, and attended their initial court hearing, to see how matters transpired. And they have been assured that the British Government is doing all it can to sort out the mess.

The court appearance on Monday lasted seven gruelling hours, although translators were on hand to help the group understand what was being said. The upshot was that the 'investigating magistrate' eventually handed the case on to the intelligence unit, to peruse the evidence in full.

It is believed the Greek authorities have conceded that Andy and his fellow Brits are not a danger to national security.

Andy has tried to remain positive and believes "common sense will prevail". But friends and family have remained firmly in his thoughts. Since his ordeal began, he has spoken several times with his father, Edwin, with whom he shares his home in Barkston Avenue, York. He has also talked at length to his friends, Adrian and Brigid Hairsine, also from York.

His thoughts have often turned to his six-year-old daughter, Jessica, who lives elsewhere, although he has chosen not to tell her about his predicament, for fear of upsetting her.

But he added: "I would just like to say hello to anyone that knows me in York. Trust me; I'm thinking of you."

So, assuming that common sense does prevail and Andy returns home soon, has this experience quashed his passion for chasing the world's finest fighting aircraft? Not a chance.

"I expect the press in Britain have been calling us 'plane spotters'," he groans. "I prefer the term 'aircraft enthusiast'. A plane spotter, to me, is someone who sits at the end of the runway with a pair of binoculars. We like to hope we're a bit more sophisticated.

"I shouldn't think all this will change things. I've been doing this for 22 years now; I got into it when I was nine, on family holidays around Britain with my uncles, aunts and cousins. We went to all the air shows here. Then, as I got older and saw it all again and again, I realised I wanted to go further afield and see more. By going abroad, I just took it a stage further.

"None of what has happened will change that feeling, I don't think," he adds. "Might think twice about coming back to Greece, though."

Updated: 11:31 Wednesday, November 14, 2001