A LEADING human rights activist has urged MPs to help fight for the release of a Fylde sailor "forgotten" during a mass royal pardon which released four Britons from Moroccan prisons.

Director of pressure group Fair Trials Abroad, Stephen Jakobi, says he is "shocked and appalled" the British government has refused to intervene in the case of 38-year-old Paul Smith.

Mr Smith, who lives in Fleetwood, was jailed for 10 years in 1996 after a quantity of canabis was found sealed in the hull of the boat he was working aboard.

The seaman -- who maintains he is innocent -- was transferred to Wandsworth Prison, South London, in February after going on hunger strike over the conditions of his former jail in Rebat.

But a loophole in North African law means that he is not eligible to feature on a list of almost 10,000 prisoners -- four of which are British -- who were granted freedom by King Mohammed VI to celebrate the birth of his son, Prince Hassan.

Mr Jakobi has now called upon Fleetwood and Blackpool North MP, Joan Humble, to lend her support to the campaign to him included in the amnesty after a Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "Royal pardons are granted entirely at the discretion of the individual government.

"We acknowledge that Mr Smith has not been named among those listed for freedom, but are confident that the Moroccan authorities made their decision after careful consideration.

"It is not the place of the Foreign Office to get involved in this matter."

And he has slammed Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, for failing to make "a top level effort to secure his release".

Mr Jakobi said: "Morocco is notorious for jailing people on drugs related charges and while Paul may have received some sort of trial, it was certainly not a fair one.

"Evidence at the time of his arrest shows that he merely worked aboard a boat which had an amount of drugs stashed in its hull.

"The actual owner of the boat told the Moroccan police that the drugs could have been sealed in the boat long before Paul came to be working on it.

"At best these charges are suspect.

"Following the release of so many prisoners it's shameful that the British Foreign Office have not made a top level effort to secure his release.

"It may not be the place or responsibility of the Foreign Secretary to intervene, when it's clear that the Moroccan authorities have made an oversight over his release.

"But just because Paul has been forgotten by Morocco, does not mean that there should be no British effort to assist him in his release.

"I am shocked and appalled that nothing was done by the UK immediately after the list of names was made public and call upon Paul's local MP to back the campaign to see him freed."

Joan Humble the MP Blackpool North and Fleetwood was unavailable for comment as we went to press.