"Sometimes, people call us in the middle of the night and ask us to act as a private detective agency, they cannot find their hotel because they have forgotten where they were staying or they get out of a bar and suddenly discover they have lost their passports and have no more money," deplored Peter Wickenden, spokesperson for the British embassy in Prague.

"The idea is to tell them "come and have fun but be responsible," added his Bratislava counterpart, Wendy Roebuck.

The Czech and Slovak initiatives from their stretched diplomatic services form part of a wider campaign targeting 26 countries, many the destinations of low-cost airlines where her majesty's citizens have a history of being accident prone or a reputation as boorish tourists.

In the Latvian capital, Riga, preparations for a similar campaign are on hold until after the NATO summit at the end of the month, embassy spokesperson Lelde Pfrafrode told AFP.

One target of the campaigns is to warn tourists about foreign pitfalls and "correct misunderstandings about what the Foreign Office can and cannot do," explained Steve Jewitt, charged with consular communication at the Foreign Office.

Around 900 000 serious incidents every year affect British citizens who take a total of 60-million foreign trips annually, Jewitt, who flew in to Prague to head a seminar on the subject, announced.

In Prague, where the number of British tourists has doubled to more than 650 000 since 2002, the main warning concerns the slick pickpockets who haunt the capital's tourist centre.

While the police admit around 10 thefts daily in the centre's tourist hotspots, the British consulate alone is called on to replace up to two stolen passports a day in the Summer high season.

Don't leave your common sense at home

"Do not let anything spoil your trip: put your passport somewhere safe, note your details, watch your belongings," warns one poster, examples of which will be placed in toilets of bars and restaurants because these are places where "the public is particularly captive," Wickenden explained.

"The idea is to tell them it is fine to travel but you should not leave your common sense at home, particularly if you are drinking too much," he added.

At Bratislava, the campaign aims at preventing trouble from partygoers and pub crawl groups. Troublemakers have increased along with the development of "low-cost" flights with tickets often costing the price of a round of beers in a London pub.

Cheap beer and beautiful girls

With around 40 000 British tourists in the Slovak capital during the first six months of the year, the number has almost doubled since last year according to embassy figures.

Three-quarters of those visitors have two clear targets: "cheap beer and beautiful girls," according to Slovakia Greens Agency, a local travel agency specialising in British tourists.

Some, completely drunk, bathe naked in the fountains of the city centre or create a disturbance disguised as super heros, such as Batman or Spiderman.

Such unbridled activity has shocked Slovaks, who are used to more self control. "Bratislava's old town is not a cheap hang out, but an historic centre," said indignant Mayor Peter Ciernik.

"Pickpockets prefer tourists"

The posters and beer mat campaign in pubs, restaurants and night clubs calls on the British to turn down the volume and advises them "do not end up in jail for drinking and fighting."

"Pickpockets prefer tourists," "drunken tourists are an easy target," it adds.

For Dean Cobbold, an Englishman who runs a tour agency specialising in British "stag party" tours, the campaign is welcome but wanting faced with such "rude and noisy visitors."

For him, "it would be more useful to deploy armed police in the streets to frighten them."

Favouring a more diplomatic approach, the Foreign Office is also offering special English language courses to Prague and Bratislava policemen who might have to communicate with its subjects abroad.