The mother of a Briton on death row in the US has asked Tony Blair to help save her son's life.

Dorothy Elliott, 67, wants the Prime Minister to intervene to save her son John "Jackie" Elliott, who is due to be executed in Texas on 4 February after being convicted of rape and murder.

On Friday at a press conference in the House of Commons Mrs Elliott made the plea for government support for her son, who was born in Suffolk.

"Something must be done to help my son. I love him very much and I don't want this to happen," she said.

I would ask if he would do anything for my son - the time is very near now Dorothy Elliott, mother

"I think any mum would be willing to help him."

Mrs Elliott said if she could meet the Prime Minister, she would plead with him for help.

"I would ask if he would do anything for my son - the time is very near now. I'm thankful for all the help I'm getting," she said.

Elliott, 43, has always maintained his innocence since his conviction in 1987.

Mother Dorothy Elliott: "He didn't do it"

Mrs Elliott and Jackie's brother Robert, who live in the US, are urging MPs and the Prime Minister to lobby the US authorities to allow a further appeal.

Mrs Elliott told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "He didn't have the right kind of lawyer. We didn't have the money to hire a lawyer so he had to go with the state lawyer, and he wasn't given a fair trial."

Robert said his brother had been given a tax attorney who had never tried criminal cases.

'Judicial miscarriage'

He also said new DNA testing could prove Elliott's innocence, but so far they had not been allowed to try it.

"That evidence will never come to light unless we have the execution stayed," he said.

Human rights lawyer Hugh Southey said it would be a "miscarriage of justice" if Elliott was executed.

A Commons motion appealing for clemency from the US authorities has already been signed by 81 MPs.

On Friday a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office told BBC News Online that the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had written to the governor of Texas outlining the Government's opposition to the death penalty and urging that a prison sentence be substituted.