ANDY Jenkins, the York air enthusiast who was arrested in Greece on spying charges, is to meet Foreign Office officials in the fight to clear his name.

Andy, and the 11 other British plane spotters, who are now charged with accessing state secrets, are scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Office Minister Baroness Amos tomorrow, in the hope of securing Government support for their plight.

The group members were arrested while they were on an organised plane spotting visit to Greece in November.

They were held in prison for nearly six weeks after initially being accused of spying.

Judges freed them on bail in December, pending a trial, after reducing the charges.

Labour MEP Richard Howitt, who has campaigned on the group's behalf, has organised the meeting, at which he will give the group his backing.

He said: "They have suffered a terrible ordeal.

"In the face of the forthcoming court case, we want the Foreign Office to make direct representations to the Greek authorities to secure fair treatment for the 12."

Mr Howitt, who visited the group members while they were imprisoned in Athens and Nafplion, believes their detention contravened European law. He added: "This whole episode was a complete travesty, and these people should never have even been arrested in the first place."

Andy's father, Edwin, said today: "I know he received this letter, only yesterday, which told him about this meeting.

"It's his own business, as far as I'm concerned, but I know he wants to clear his name as quickly as possible. It's all a mistake and we all want it to end now."

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We would not discuss the aims or outcome of a private meeting of this kind, as it would come under consular confidentiality.

"But the office is aware of the situation, and has been involved at each stage so far."

The Britons, plus two Dutch men, were arrested at a military air base in the port of Kalamata, about 150 miles south west of Athens, on November 8.

They were freed in December, after accusations of espionage were reduced to charges of gathering secret information.

Updated: 10:21 Monday, January 21, 2002