Plane spotters leaving prison

A group of 14 British and Dutch plane spotters who had been accused of espionage are beginning to leave jail.

The two Dutchmen, Patrick Dirksen and Frank Mink, were the first to be released.

Of the group, 13 men have been held in prison in Kalamata for nearly all of the time following their November 8 arrest after attending an aircraft show at a military base in Kalamata.

The sole woman in the group, Briton Lesley Coppin, 51, has been held in Korydallos prison near Athens.

Each member of the group had to post £9,000 in bail. They are being taken to nearby Nafplion police station to be formally released.

"They will be released through the police station," said Dutch Consul Rutger Janssen.

The group spent an extra two days in jail until the full bail amount was gathered and deposited with a court cashier.

A panel of three judges in Kalamata ruled on Wednesday to reduce the charges from espionage to a lesser offence of illegal information collection.

The spotters must return to Greece to face trial for an offence which carries a minimum one year and maximum five year prison sentence.

The spying charge had a maximum sentence of 20 years.