Friends and relatives of two Eastbourne men languishing in a Moroccan jail have accused the Government of doing nothing to end their nightmare.

Paul Humble and Greg Saxby are approaching the second anniversary of the day they were locked up after being found guilty of smuggling £7 million of cannabis into the country.

They and their supporters in Eastbourne maintain their innocence and claim the pair's trial was a farce.

Paul and Greg's family and friends have spent the last 24 months pushing for their release but still no word of hope has come from either country's government.

Dominico Tolardo, a close friend of Greg's, has been one of the leading campaigners for the pair to be released.

He said: "We have written to the Government here and in Morocco but still they have done nothing.

"Other prisoners in similar situations who are guilty unlike Greg and Paul have been released but they are still there.

"I went to Morocco in July to see them both and they are bearing up quite well considering. I even wrote a letter to the King of Morocco himself in the hope he will give them a pardon."

A Home Office spokesman said it was impossible to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries although he added the Government office was aware of the situation.

The reaction has angered the campaigners, who are backed by international aid group Fair Trials Abroad.

Mr Tolardo said: "We will not give up hope. We will continue to fight for them all the while they are still in there."

Paul, 39, and Greg, 43, left Eastbourne in 1997 to work delivering boats around the Mediterranean.

The pair are now almost two years into a 12-year sentence in a squalid jail on the outskirts of the Moroccan capital, Rabat.

Both are said to have suffered physical and mental hardship.

Greg, who has become a grandfather during his sentence, was 15 stone when he left British shores and now weighs just eight. He has also been suffering psychiatric problems.

Both men have had to shave off their hair because of lice and must pay for anything other than the most basic provisions.

Paul's mother Joan Humble said she had received a few telephone calls from her son but was unable to make the traumatic trip to go and see him.

The 62-year-old from Wartling Road, Eastbourne, said: "There are so many people who believe my son is innocent, some of them I don't even know.

"Paul has told me he didn't do it and as his mother I know he is telling the truth. He knows we haven't given up on him or Greg. We can't abandon them."