A SCOTTISH woman jailed for drug smuggling in Peru is to fly home within the next month.

Melissa Reid, who was jailed alongside Irish woman Michaella McCollum in 2013, was granted a request to be released from prison after she appeared in private at a makeshift courtroom at Sarita Colonia Prison.

READ MORE: Drugs mule imprisoned alongside Scot Melissa Reid speaks after release from jail in Peru

Her defence team argued that she should be allowed to return to Britain to serve the rest of her sentence because of a law designed to reduce Peru’s prison population which is applicable to most first-time foreign offenders sentenced to less than seven years in jail.

The 22-year-old, from Lenzie, could now be back with her family in Scotland less than a month after Ms McCollum was released on bail.

Glasgow Times: Police escort Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum to a court to be formally charged for drug trafficking in Lima, Peru (AP)

A British embassy spokesman in Lima said Reid had been “granted expulsion back to the UK”, and would be returning “very soon”, but refused to comment further.

While McCollum, 23, is facing an uncertain future in Lima, Reid is bidding for effective expulsion from the south American country.

READ MORE: Drugs mule imprisoned alongside Scot Melissa Reid speaks after release from jail in Peru

Reid had won the backing of her prison governor for the move, which highlights the two different approaches both women have taken to secure their freedom.

Peruvian prison service chief Julio Magan said he thought it was time that the women were sent home.

She favours shorter sentences for people who are not heads of drugs gangs, adding that they had been used by dealers.