The mother of a British man who spent nearly a decade in an Indian prison on illegal arms charges was thrilled today to hear her son was being released.

During a visit by Home Secretary David Blunkett, Indian deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani said that negotiations were under way to free Peter Bleach.

Mr Bleach, 52, from Yorkshire, was arrested in December 1995 along with five Latvian air crew on charges related to an illegal arms drop in India.

All six were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2000.

Mr Bleach's Latvian co-defendants were granted remission in July 2000 and British consul staff have been lobbying for similar terms for the Briton, who is currently in a jail in Calcutta.

Bleach's elderly mother, Oceana Bleach, said she was thrilled at today's news.

Speaking from her home in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, she told PA News: ''I am very thrilled. I hope and pray that it will come to fruition. ''That was my biggest wish for this year that my son would be coming back.

''He has never lost his spirit that he is fighting for his freedom and for his justice as well.

''He should have been freed with the Russians of course. There was substantial discrimination, I think.''

Mrs Bleach last saw her son more than eight years ago and last heard from him in December.

However, she said she would not be going to India to meet him because she was too ill.

Mr Advani said after a meeting with Mr Blunkett at the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi: ''There has been demand from Britain that Mr Peter Bleach be released. It is being actively considered.

''I have mentioned to Mr Blunkett that that might be possible.

''We have had discussions with the Law Ministry who indicated that it would be possible.''

Mr Bleach's case has been previously raised with the Indian government by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Mr Bleach is believed to be suffering from tuberculosis and British officials are concerned for his deteriorating health.

Asked when Mr Bleach would be released, Mr Advani said: ''We will finalise it soon.''

Mr Blunkett said: ''In Britain I normally have a reputation of keeping people in jail.

''I'm very pleased that the minister has agreed to let someone out, which will improve my reputation with the liberal media tremendously at home.''

Mr Bleach and the five Latvians were arrested on charges that they parachuted crates of assault rifles, anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers and ammunition into Purulia village in West Bengal.

Police had said the cache was for a revolutionary group known as Anand Marg - Path of Bliss.

In February 2000, a Calcutta civil court sentenced Mr Bleach and the Russian Latvians to life imprisonment on charges of waging war against India.

However, the five others were pardoned after the Russian government intervened, saying there was little evidence against them and the sentences were too harsh.

In July last year, Mr Bleach was refused a pardon for a second time in three years.

He had argued that the Indian government had discriminated against him when it freed five Latvians convicted in the same case. Mr Bleach's first petition was dismissed in 2001.

India's figurehead president can pardon prisoners and reduce sentences.