MP Francis Maude is to ask the Foreign Office if there is any help the Government can offer a Sussex plane spotter convicted of spying in Greece.

Six Britons given three-year sentences for spying were freed pending an appeal.

Christopher Wilson, 46, of Erica Way, Horsham, was among another six each given one-year suspended sentences for aiding and abetting the group convicted of spying.

Mr Maude, Tory MP for Horsham, said they were the victims of a show trial and the decision to prosecute them in the first place was "precipitous".

The plane spotters arrived at Luton airport on Saturday morning but telecoms engineer Mr Wilson and his wife Julie, 41, did not immediately return to their semi-detached cul-de-sac home.

Neighbours were amazed Mr Wilson had been convicted.

James Peterson, 52, said: "I can't believe it. They are such a nice couple. There is no way he could be involved in anything so ridiculous as spying."

Mr Peterson's next-door neighbour, Phyllis Edmonds, 58, said: "It's just laughable. It's ridiculous. Accusing him of spying is completely over the top."

Another neighbour said: "I feel sorry for them. They are quiet people who will just hate all this attention."

The plane spotters have vowed to appeal but the case could drag on for years and cost many thousands of pounds.

Some of them have already remortgaged their homes to fight the charges against them.

Mr Maude has followed the case from the time the group were arrested in Greece last year.

He said he would continue talks with the Foreign Office about the case.

He said: "We have been closely involved with the family, particularly when Mr Wilson was in prison in Greece before Christmas.

"Very clearly, an unsatisfactory outcome has transpired."