Alexia Stewart, 29, walked out of the Aguada jail in the western Indian state of Goa, after spending 586 days in prison.

Her boyfriend, Gary Carter, 30, is still waiting to be freed because of problems with his release order.

On Tuesday, an appeal court threw out charges against the couple and ordered their release. Ms Stewart and Mr Carter were arrested in March 1998 after police accused them of being in possession of 165 grams of cannabis.

They were sentenced last December to 10 years in prison, the maximum sentence in India for anyone found carrying more than 25 grams.

Court orders release

Ms Stewart left the Aguada jail with her father Phillip, who is director of humanities at St Anne's College at Oxford University.

"It feels wonderful to be free again," she said.

"It's like my birthday today. I feel like I'm born again to a new life."

She said she it was a shame that her boyfriend was still in jail. He is expected to remain in prison for a few more days because of technical flaws in his release order.

The two-judge bench which ordered their release said they were "given the benefit of doubt after the bench found it difficult to believe that the contraband was recovered from their possession".

'Trumped-up charge'

The Britons had maintained that police planted the drugs on them.

The couple were arrested from their cottage in Goa's Vagator beach, after police said they found a bag with 165 grams of cannabis following a search.

The police then, allegedly, demanded a bribe of £2,000 to drop the charges but the couple said they refused to pay the money.

Phillip Stewart has travelled to India several times to help secure his daughter's release.

The case received wide publicity and Goa's chief minister twice tried to have the two released because he believed them to be innocent.

In December, Ms Stewart and Mr Carter were found guilty in a special drugs court and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ms Stewart said she spent her time in a 12-by-12 metre cell with 15 other women and slept on the floor.

"I spent my time ... cleaning rice, making brooms out of palm leaves. In my free time I read a bit, wrote letters and practised a bit of yoga," she said.