The 19th Scout jamboree is due to take place in Chile later this month. But visits by UK scouts are in jeopardy because of growing international tension over the General Pinochet affair.

Among them are South Wales schoolgirl Rowena White, who has been planning the 10-day trip for 18 months.

Rowena remains hopeful

She raised £2,500 through sponsored events and sales, and her Boxing Day flight is already booked.

She said: " I just hope that everything sorts itself out.

"It would be a bit disappointing if we had to cancel, but there's nothing we can do about it. We're just being optimistic."

Rowena, who will be 16 on Christmas Day hopes to join more than 30,000 scouts worldwide.

But a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that it was currently advising Britons against non-essential travel to Chile because of the "highly volatile" situation.

If the trip goes ahead the scouts will be staying in tents in Picarquin, 90 miles from the capital Santiago, where there has been trouble since the House of Lords decision that Pinochet was not immune to prosecution as a former head of state.

Scout leaders are consulting with the Foreign Office to decide if it is safe for the scouts to travel.

In a letter sent to UK scout groups, the Contingent Leader Stuart Little and International Commissioner John May, said there were three options if Home Secretary Jack Staw decided to extradite Pinochet:

• UK scouts could try to get permission from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to go ahead with the trip.

• They could go against FCO advice. Jamboree organisers and the Chilean Government say the UK scouts would be safe.

• Scout leaders could try to organise an alternative trip to South America. But this would not be a jamboree and would be difficult to organise in less than four weeks.

Scout Association spokesman Nick Higgins said: "We are still hoping to go but a lot depends on the situation on the ground in Chile and the advice we get from the Foreign Office.

"It would be difficult to go against Foreign Office advice."

He added: "There is a certain amount of concern of course, but on the whole the impression we are getting is that the participants are still very keen to go and their parents and scout leaders are very keen as well."

Scout jamborees are held in different parts of the world every four years and this year will be attended by 28,000 scouts from 140 countries.

Scouts get involved in outdoor activities such as building pavements, playgrounds and pavilions. This year's theme is world peace.