British journalist Yvonne Ridley was today freed by the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.

Diplomats in London were still trying to confirm details of her release but the Taliban's Information Minister Qatradullah Jamal said: "Today she has been released. She is free."

The 43-year-old reporter for the Sunday Express was arrested on September 28 while trying to report on conditions in Afghanistan following the crisis over US demands to turn over terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden.

The mother-of-one, a former journalist with The Northern Echo, was seized near the north eastern city of Jalalabad with two male Afghan guides.

She was transported to the Afghan capital Kabul and it had been feared she would be tried on possible espionage charges.

But the Taliban authorities said she was now free, although it was unclear exactly when she would make the six-hour drive from Kabul to the Pakistani border.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said they were checking the reports and liaising with the British High Commission to establish her current whereabouts.

Ms Ridley's parents, Allan and Joyce, who live in West Pelton, County Durham, said they could not comment until they knew for sure that their daughter was safe.

A family spokesman said: ''There's been too may false confirmations. They want to know she's safely across the border before they say anything.''

A spokesman for Express Newspapers said yesterday: ''We have been told that it is likely that Yvonne will be off Afghan soil within hours rather than days and we look forward to welcoming her home to the Sunday Express.''

He added: ''We are thrilled that Yvonne is on her way home and would like to thank all those who have helped make this possible.''

Yesterday the Taliban said their leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had ordered that Ridley be set free.

Jamal said the order to release her came after a request for her freedom was made by the British Foreign Office to the Taliban embassy in Pakistan.

It is believed she will be taken to the Khyber Pass under armed guard before being handed over to the Pakistani authorities.

Her release comes after intensive diplomacy by consular staff at the British High Commission in Islamabad, Express editorial director Paul Ashford and Salayha Hussain-Din, an Urdu-speaking lawyer at Express newspapers.

Ms Ridley was not carrying a passport when she entered Afghanistan but the team bidding for her release provided documentation proving she was a journalist.

The fate of the two men arrested with Ms Ridley is not known but they could face severe punishment from the Taliban authorities.