Booze, drugs land Brits in jail overseas

       Nearly 1,000 British holidaymakers were arrested for drugs offences abroad last year, with many more held by police or hospitalised for excessive drinking, the British Foreign Office said yesterday.
       A third of the 991 drug arrests took place in Spain and the US.
       Hospital cases were often the result of moped accidents and drink-related accidents. Such incidents escalated dramatically in the summer months, which the Foreign Office said was linked to the increased consumption of drugs and alcohol over the holiday season.
       "Researching the local laws and customs before you travel could avoid time in a foreign jail," said Chris Bryant,Foreign Office Minister.
       British travellers also reported 116 cases of rape and 158 cases of sexual assault, including 28 rapes in Greece.
       Consular advice was sought almost 20,000 times to help out British travellers abroad who had run into trouble.
       Nearly 30,000 Britons also lost their passports overseas during the 12-month period to March this year covered by the Foreign Office figures.
       The excesses of British drinking abroad were highlighted earlier this month when the mayor of the Latvian capital Riga called for an end to visits by stag and hen parties after several British visitors urinated on Riga's Freedom Monument.
       Total arrests rose year-on-year in both Spain and the US, which together accounted for more than half of the 6,919 reported arrests of Britons, the Foreign Office said.
       There are currently eight British nationals awaiting the death penalty abroad,including four in the US and one each in Ghana, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.