Why is this General letting our Army on Cyprus turn into the 18- 30

THE Major General's warning is grim and unequivocal. Angus Ramsay says: "I will not tolerate loutish behaviour."

And the officer commanding British forces on Cyprus adds: "I have one short message for anyone thinking of stepping out of line. Don't do it."

To drive home his message in Forces newspaper The Lion, Major General Ramsay has imposed a whole new raft of curfews and out-of- bounds orders in a desperate attempt to curb the drunken and violent excesses of 3,500 British squaddies serving on what was once quaintly known as the Island of Love, but which is now the Army's own version of an 18-30 holiday destination.

And is his tough stance working? Well, judge for yourself.

Thirty miles away in the beach resort town of Ayia Napa, which their CO has banned them from visiting, teenage privates John Owen and Andrew Savage are laughing into their lager. Owen, from Grimsby, and Savage, from Leicester, boast: "We wanted some real action and the only place for that is Napa." Owen adds: "We don't care if we're banned. It's the best place and we'll come here if we want to."

The two 19-year-olds believe only Napa can deliver the attractions so many British soldiers crave in the "dream posting" of Cyprus - booze, easy sex and casual violence. Owen says: "This place is the best and now we're here we're going to enjoy it.

"We don't give a damn about the ban and most of the lads feel the same.""

Savage says: "It's a good laugh here in Napa, we'll have a few beers and look for girls. They're nearly all gorgeous out here."

The pair's marathon drinking session had begun five hours before at the barracks bar on their Dhekelia base, and continued in nearby Larnaca. But bored by Larnaca's lack of bars and girls, they took a pounds 15 cab ride to out-of-bounds Napa. It is now 12.30am on a balmy Saturday night, and in their best casual gear - Owen in an pounds 80 yellow Ralph Lauren shirt and Savage in a pink Ben Sherman top - the two head straight for The Place Bar.

Their eyes light up as they recognise gangs of other Servicemen who are similarly contemptuous of Major General Ramsay's warning.

Savage says: "We're not the only ones here tonight. I've seen at least 20 other squaddies. We're all after the same thing - the girls. If there's a fight then there's a fight. We're up for it."

They don't have to wait long. Within 25 minutes of their arrival a fracas between Cypriots breaks out in the town centre. Abandoning their pints, Owen and Savage go outside to watch the skirmish - only to be spotted by three military policemen on patrol.

The smirks are wiped from their faces as the MPs arrest them, warning them how much trouble they are in.

Eight soldiers have been removed from Cyprus since the Napa ban was introduced in April and punished with 28 days in the "Glasshouse" military jail in Colchester.

But then, incredibly, instead of hauling Owen and Savage back to barracks, the MPs simply tell them to report to their commanding officer at 7am the following morning.

Gleefully striding off, Owen and Savage can't believe their luck.

Once out of sight of the MPs they duck into a quiet bar and pick up where they left off - with yet more pints of Carlsberg. Owen, who has a girlfriend in England, boasted: "If we're going down, we might as well make a night of it. We'll see if we can get some girls."

Their encounters with girls don't always go smoothly, however. Owen told of fighting five Cypriots after taking a local girl to a hotel room.

He says: "They were raging mad because I fancied one of their women. I took her to a hotel room. We were in there two minutes and nothing had happened, but then suddenly these guys barged in. I hit one and jumped out of the window, ran across the hotel grounds and jumped a fence."

Other squaddies proudly boast of flouting the ban on Ayia Napa. One 19-year-old, who did not want to be named, said: "Cyprus is so boring without Ayia Napa. All we've got is the George Club in the barracks at Dhekelia. That's like a working men's club without the working men."

Another said: "We all get pounds 700 a month, which is basically beer money because we don't have to pay for anything else. We want to get down to Ayia Napa to spend our money.

"A load of lads have been sent back and one of my mates is finishing 28 days in the Glasshouse for getting caught drink-driving on the way back from Ayia Napa. He was so drunk he wrote his car off.""

A third squaddie says: "Napa is the best place to have sex. I've had it with a holiday rep in the toilets before. She was amazed when I told her I was only 19.

"We get in fights because people want to have a go at us. The locals hate us because we're more popular with the girls. I hate the locals."

The new clampdown follows a series of appalling attacks by squaddies on tourists.

The worst was the horrific sex killing of Danish tour guide Louise Jensen by three privates. They are currently appealing against their murder convictions and life sentences at Nicosia Court.

In April, 35-year-old holidaymaker Jeremy Caprio was left blind in one eye after a savage kicking by soldiers outside the Carwash nightclub in Napa. Two British soldiers were last week charged with indecent exposure and disturbing the peace on a popular tourist beach, and last May four Marines stripped naked in Ayia Napa town centre to sing God Save The Queen.

Police Chief Superintendent Savvas Ewdotou, Divisional Commander for the area which covers Ayia Napa, says: "We have lots of incidents with the British and it is nearly always with the soldiers. They get drunk and some think they are above the law.

"The problem is that they are confined to barracks and when they get permission to go out, they have enough money and they celebrate.

"They all want to impress the girls and drink changes their character.

"Last year a tourist had his pelvis broken in a fight with soldiers. The worst incident recently was an attack on an off duty policeman just outside Ayia Napa. He stopped two soldiers who were drunk and riding bicycles, which later turned out to be stolen.

"They were zig-zagging all over the road and the officer simply wanted to warn them to be careful, but one grabbed him from the car and began punching him. He was laid out over the bonnet and beaten until he was unconscious. They left him in the road and stole his car. It was later found burnt out near the army barracks.

"The officer is 50 years old and married with three children. He was in hospital for six days and is still off sick. We don't know when he'll be back or if any of the damage is permanent. Those responsible have never been found." Restaurant boss Andreas Limnara said: "They go out in groups of 10 or 15 and drink too much. It always ends in a fight. "After each incident the soldiers get banned and a few weeks later they are allowed back in to start off where they left off.

"They are out at the moment but they will be back. The bars need their money.""

The man charged with keeping this drunken rabble in order is a 52- year-old career soldier who joined the army in 1964. Major General Ramsay has also served in Germany, Gibraltar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Oman, Singapore, Bosnia, Zimbabwe, the USA and Ulster. He refused to discuss the problems on Cyprus, although his spokesman Mervyn Wynne Jones said: "We've pumped more than pounds 100 million into the local economy each year. Some 2,000 civilians are employed at the bases and jobs there are very sought after. "We are also engaged in dozens of charity projects in the community with donations of pounds 30,000 a year."

The Major General has already made his views known in The Lion. He wrote: "British Forces in Cyprus have not helped themselves in recent years. A few appalling incidents have drawn huge media attention and spawned a reputation of notoriety.

"The incidents were truly horrifying, but a blanket reputation of notoriety is unjustified. The vast majority of you serve your uniform and country with dedication, commitment and in exemplary fashion. We have got to turn the corner but there is some way yet to go."

You can say that again, Major General.

COMMENT: Page 6

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