English-speaking Greek police will lead a ''softly, softly'' crackdown on loutish

behaviour by British holiday-makers in Faliraki next summer, it was announced

yesterday.

Island authorities said the Rhodes resort is to get its own police station with 20 officers, most of whom will be English speakers - and some will even have visited Blackpool to study how it polices its late-night

revellers.

Strict rules will govern large organised pub crawls in Faliraki, and bar and nightclub rules, including late-night playing of music, will be enforced.

Images of young Britons in Rhodes consuming vast quantities of alcohol, engaging in public sex acts and loutish behaviour, dominated the headlines during the summer after the death of Paddy Doran, 17, from Leicestershire.

Matters came to a head when the Greek authorities started to crack down on unruly behaviour. One teenager was jailed for baring her breasts and five holiday reps were arrested for allegedly taking people on unregistered bar crawls.

Dozens of others were arrested for being drunk and disorderly, and bar crawls were banned in the resort.

John Iatrides, mayor of the Kallithea region, which includes Faliraki, was in London yesterday to outline a ''softly, softly'' approach to avoiding a repeat of last summer's events.

The measures include bar crawls being restricted to 50 people whose names and ages must be listed by the event's organisers.