Families and friends of two men languishing in a Moroccan jail were last night anxiously waiting for news of their possible release.

Friends Paul Humble, 41, and Greg Saxby, 45, could be among more than 9,400 prisoners handed a pardon by the north African country's monarch.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has sanctioned the mass release from his country's jails in celebration of the birth on Thursday of his first child and heir, Prince Hassan.

The prisoners set for release include 293 foreigners, while the sentences of 38,529 inmates are being reduced.

The Foreign Office in London was last night urgently trying to establish whether any British prisoners were among those set for freedom.

Mr Humble's mother, Joan, told The Argus: "I've not heard a thing. I can't help but feel this might be just another false hope. We've been through enough already.

"We've had our hopes raised and then dashed so many times.

"If this is just another piece of false information then I don't want to know."

His father, David, of Wartling Road, Eastbourne, said: "The only time I'll believe he's free is when he stands at the door and says, 'Alright, pop?'"

Mr Humble and Mr Saxby were jailed for ten years in 1998 on charges of smuggling £7 million of cannabis in Morocco.

Their friends and family have lobbied authorities to secure their release, saying their arrest and conviction was a farce.

The pair claim their 40-minute trial in a Moroccan court without interpreters produced no evidence of smuggling.

No word of hope has emerged from either country's governments, leaving the men to endure cockroach-infested prisons.

In desperation, they joined more than 170 prisoners in January in a hunger strike at Sale prison on the outskirts of the capital, Rabat.

Both are said to have suffered great physical and mental hardship during their confinement in searing temperatures.

The London-based Fair Trials Abroad helps people from Europe who are accused of a crime in another country fight for justice.

Director Stephen Jakobi said: "Our hopes have been raised by this news but negotiations are still continuing which means there is nothing definite to go on yet."

A British Embassy spokesman in Rabat said five British cases were being looked into but could not say whether the two Sussex men were among them .

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said last night: "We are aware of the recommendation that the King of Morocco has made regarding the release of several thousand prisoners.

"We're urgently trying to find out from our embassy officials in Morocco whether any British nationals are among those."