DRUG mule Melissa Reid could be sent home to Scotland within weeks after a Peruvian court agreed the move.

The 21-year-old from Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, had requested to be transferred to a Scottish prison more than a year ago, and now a senior judge in the South American country has allowed it.

She and fellow accomplice Michaella McCollum, from Co Tyrone, were arrested after being found with cocaine worth £1.5 million at Lima International Airport in 2013.

Reid is now almost two years into a sentence of six years and eight months for drug trafficking.

Last year, Scottish Ministers confirmed that she would be accepted into the prison system in her home country, where under Scots Law she could be considered for parole after completing half her sentence.

It has been reported that her parents, Billy and Debbie Reid, were with their daughter in Peru when they received written confirmation from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that the transfer application had been approved.

Mr Reid, 55, was quoted as saying: "We are delighted that we will soon have our daughter back home.

"The FCO have confirmed to us that Melissa's application has been approved by the court. Her transfer application should reach the Ministry of Justice in three weeks."

The Scot has been serving her jail term in Lima's Ancon 2 prison where up to 30 prisoners are reportedly crammed into a cell, and disease is rife.

He said his daughter was "pleased and understandably apprehensive" at the latest development.

"We are proud of how she has coped," he said. "She is maturing and dealing with her sentence as best she can.

"It has been incredibly hard to live our lives knowing Melissa is thousands of miles away in a foreign prison and we constantly worry about her health and well-being.

"In Scotland she will be able to serve her time in conditions that do not breach her basic human rights and she will have regular visits from her family and friends."

He added: "'We understand Scotland must uphold the Peruvian sentence, but there are more opportunities available to prisoners in the progressive Scottish system - such as tagging and home leave and work and educational courses.

"Now the judge has approved the transfer, the application must be signed by Peru's president and then Melissa will be put on a plane home.

"We must pay her airfare and are making arrangements to ensure the transaction is swift."