A British woman has been sentenced to three years in prison in Egypt for smuggling around 300 painkiller tablets into the country.

Laura Plummer, a 33-year-old shop worker from Hull, was arrested in October after the Tramadol tablets were found in her suitcase. Her family told British newspapers she bought the tablets for her Egyptian partner who suffers from chronic back pain and lives in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The court also ruled that she must pay a fine of 100,000 Egyptian pounds (about 4700 euros).

Miss Plummer's family said they were disgusted by the way she was being treated.

Tramadol is legal in Britain but is listed by Egyptian authorities as an illegal drug given its wide use as a heroin substitute.

Plummer's family says she had no idea that bringing the painkillers to Egypt was illegal.

Her lawyers immediately lodged an appeal and senior officials at the Foreign Office have reportedly raised her case with Egyptian authorities.