The family of a British couple held in Iran after being accused of spying say the pair have gone on hunger strike to press for their release.

Axar.az reports, citing BBC, Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested in January of last year while passing through Iran on a global motorbike journey.

The couple were sentenced in February to 10 years in jail on espionage charges, which they deny.

The Foreign Office says it will keep working to get them safely back to the UK, calling their incarceration appalling and unjustified.

Craig Foreman is believed to be 13 days into a hunger strike, which he began after the couple's phone access was cut off in early May.

Other sources have confirmed to the family that Lindsay Foreman, 53, had paused a hunger strike after being told she would be able to contact her family, but had since resumed.

Lindsay's son Joe Bennett described their food refusal as a "medical emergency in the making".

He added: "I understand British politics is in an extraordinary moment. But my mum and Craig cannot wait for Westminster to resolve its own crisis.