AN adventure holiday operator at the centre of an investigation into

allegations of indecency involving children was arrested in Gibraltar

yesterday.

Schooner skipper Mike Johnson, 48, will appear in court today in

connection with extradition proceedings, according to a Devon and

Cornwall police spokesman.

The arrest follows a four-month police and social services

investigation into allegations of indecency involving children on trips

aboard a 60-year-old schooner, the Grace O'Malley.

In January, Cornwall social services department said the investigation

had taken place after claims made by a parent in Scotland whose son had

been on one of the previous children's cruises.

Twenty boys and girls, aged between 13 and 15, were interviewed, as

well as a number of adults.

The investigation involved children and adults from Scotland, as well

as Cornwall, London, and Ireland.

It began last August.

By that time the vessel, which sailed from Cornwall, had been at sea

for two months, with eight children on board.

After about another month the investigators, who had been in contact

with the craft by radio telephone, persuaded Mr Johnson and his wife,

Liz, to put the children ashore in the Canary Islands, and they were

flown home.