A pregnant British drug mule has been told she can walk free from prison if she pays a huge fine after she smuggled thousands of pounds worth of drugs into Georgia.

Bella Culley, 19, faced 20 years behind bars after she was caught in Tbilisi with £200,000 worth of cannabis in her luggage in May.

However, her legal team has now confirmed they are close to a deal which would see the teenager released - after her family pay a substantial sum of money.

The teenager's trial was due to start today; however, it was adjourned as Judge Giorgi Gelashvili praised the "ongoing success in negotiations."

He told her lawyer he could pick another date for the next hearing, "the very moment you reach an agreement".

Malkhaz Salakaia, defending, told journalists: "If her family is ready to pay the sum that the state is demanding, she can go straight to the airport."

The 19-year-old's mother, Lyanne Kennedy, is panicking due to the significant sum they are being asked to pay.

After the hearing at Tbilisi City Court, she said: "It's a lot of money for us. They offered us a layered approach: this and this much to let her go immediately, and then another [lower] offer where she serves some amount."