An aviation enthusiast from Whitton has hit a further setback in his fight to be released from a Greek prison.

Graham Arnold, 38, is one of 12 members of a party of plane spotters arrested on suspicion of spying at an airbase near Kalamata.

They have denied taking photos of a restricted military base an offence that carries a 20-year jail sentence in Greece.

On Tuesday, all 12 appeared in court to testify before military experts. But they now face a further two weeks behind bars until their case is heard by a panel of judges.

Mr Arnolds parents, Ron and Mary, of Vincam Road, Whitton, are increasingly concerned for their son.

They have been in regular contact with Graham since his arrest on November 8 and say his spirit is flagging.

Mr Arnold said: My wife and I need to be sitting here waiting for calls from Graham. We have got to go through another weekend while everything closes down.

Ham lawyer Stephen Jakobi, who runs the human rights charity Fair Trials Abroad, has fired off letters protesting at the breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

He said it had been established that there was no evidence against a number of the plane spotters and added: The judge has a basic duty to decide whether there is a proper reason for holding them.

There may be things in their notebooks that were taken as suspicious but that is not a reason for holding all of them.