THE 12 British plane-spotters jailed in Greece were due to find out today if they would face espionage charges after prosecutors called for them to face trial.

Three judges were to examine the evidence against the plane spotters and then decide how the case should proceed.

The 12 had been hoping that the state prosecutor would free them for Christmas but he has compiled a report recommending that the 12 Britons, which includes Andrew Jenkins, brother of Barnoldswick man Steven Jenkins and two Dutch citizens should face trial.

The hearing, in the town of Kalamata, comes after the group were arrested in November following organised visits to Greek air bases. They have been behind bars since then but insist they did not violate a ban on photography.

Foreign Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw also renewed appeals to Greece to release the plane-spotters.

But after talks in Brussels with Greek Foreign Minister Georges Papandreou, Mr Straw had no comfort for the relatives of those being held in jail.

He said: "Nothing would please me more than if they were released in the next few days, but I don't want to raise the hopes of people detained."

Steven Jenkins has joined other relatives of the group to urge Prime Minister Tony Blair and Mr Straw to apply more pressure to engineer the group's release.