Scots drugs mule Melissa Reid is expected be released from prison in Peru on Tuesday, STV News understands.

The 22-year-old, from Lenzie in East Dunbartonshire, was jailed in 2013 for trying to smuggle cocaine to Spain, along with her friend Michaella McCollum from Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

Authorities in Peru made the decision to expel her from the country at a hearing last month. They said Reid met the legal requirements to be released.

She has already served around a third of her six years and eight months sentence.

Reid then faced a wait of up to 20 days to allow for the full release process to be completed.

STV News understands the convicted cocaine smuggler is set to be released on Tuesday before being transported by car directly to a special area inside Lima Airport.

It is understood the Peruvian authorities would then hand her over to the British Embassy to get a flight home to Scotland.

At the court hearing in May, a magistrate ruled that she had been remorseful and shown her "intention to be reinserted back in society" at an earlier hearing.

Her co-accused McCollum, 23, left prison in April after serving just over two years but her release conditions require her to to stay in Peru for an undisclosed period of time on parole.

McCollum and Reid faced the prospect of a maximum 15-year prison term but struck a behind-closed-doors plea bargain to secure a shorter sentence.

They had previously been held at Virgen de Fatima prison in Lima but were moved to the Ancon 2 prison, where McCollum was reportedly held in a cell with 30 other prisoners.

The Scottish Prison Service says it has had no contact from the Peruvian authorities since a request for a transfer back to Scotland was made under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement was made two years ago and they are not involved in her case.

This is because they are not involved in the process as Reid will return home a free woman and will not enter the Scottish prison system.

The women were caught with the £1.5m haul of drugs at Lima Airport as they attempted to board a flight to Madrid in Spain.

Customs discovered 24lb of the drug in food packages hidden in their luggage.