A HOLIDAY in Turkey has turned into a nightmare for a South Lakeland businessman who could face weeks in jail after being accused of smuggling antiquities, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

Paul Cleasby's attempt to bring home a souvenir badly backfired when he was detained at the airport. He is now sharing a prison cell with 16 other people.

His family is waiting anxiously for news but has been warned that a trial date could still be four to six weeks away.

Although Mr Cleasby has been accused of smuggling, his family and friends said that he was merely attempting to bring home a rock that he had bought legitimately as a garden ornament.

MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Collins has already taken up his case with the Foreign Office, and has also pledged to ask questions in the House of Commons if it is not resolved soon.

Mr Cleasby, 43, from Windermere, and the owner of horn product manufacturer Abbey Horn, was returning from a holiday with his German girlfriend, Sophie Zang, when he found himself in difficulties.

Tracey Harris, office manager at Abbey Horn's Holme Mills headquarters, near Milnthorpe, said: "Paul was on holiday and saw a rock that he liked and thought would look good in the garden. He bought it but, unfortunately, he paid cash and did not have a receipt. He had put it on the conveyor belt with the hand luggage it would be fully on display and was promptly arrested." She said the stone had since been examined by someone from a museum, who had confirmed it was an artefact.

Miss Harris spoke to Mr Cleasby twice before his mobile phone was taken away.

"He seemed okay but obviously he's concerned. Paul's very good at putting on a brave face and I think even if he was very, very scared he would not have said so.

"We are all very concerned because we thought this would be over. I'm just surprised that they can't see it for what it is. If you are going to smuggle something you are not going to put it out on show with your hand luggage."

Mr Cleasby's sister, Vanda Whitton, said her brother had been refused bail, and the family including their mother and father Wendy Shepherd and Derek Cleasby - was now pinning its hopes on an early trial date, which was being pressed for by his solicitor.

The family has paid £200 into the prison bank account to enable Mr Cleasby to buy food - as he is not allowed to use his own money or credit cards. The family can send him faxes, and the messages are translated into Turkish to be checked before being passed on. Mr Cleasby can send a fax back, although it takes a number of days. Mrs Whitton said they hoped that media attention might help her brother's case, and would help to counteract false stories about what had happened to him.

The rumour was that he was "smuggling horn" said Mrs Whitton, who hoped that if the media became involved it might help. "We have been patient and gone through the embassy and things are happening, but it's slower over there," she added.

Mrs Whitton said her brother was "straight as a die" and quite a strong person.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mr Cleasby was detained on Monday, September 27, in Antalya, for smuggling antiquities, and he appeared before a prosecutor the next day. Consular staff were providing assistance.

When asked if travellers should heed any advice about souvenirs from Turkey she said: "People need to be aware that the smuggling of antiquities is a serious offence in Turkey, whether it is done innocently or not. People need to be very aware of what they are buying."

At the time of going to press, no one at the Turkish Embassy in London was able to comment.

Abbey Horn was established in 1749. The firm buys cow horn, which is a by-product of the meat industry, and uses it to produce items such as spoons, walking sticks and shoehorns. Harrods is just one of Abbey Horn's big-name customers, and the firm exports to Europe, Japan and the USA.