The brothers have said they want to be moved to Fumchal Prison on the Atlantic Island of Madeira.

Andrew Stow was sentenced to 12 years

The brothers, who continue to protest their innocence, were sentenced to 12 years each for smuggling three tonnes of cannabis.

In August, lawyers acting on behalf of the brothers claimed they are within weeks of freeing the men, who had moved to Portugal to start a new life.

The first of two appeals focused on the illegality of their trial, as it was not recorded and not held billingually.

The legal team claimed the appeal had succeeded on the technicality but added the Stows would remain in custody awaiting the verdict on the second appeal.

The pair were found guilty of bringing cannabis into the port at Faro and were sentenced in July - two years after their original arrest.

Andrew Stow, 36, and brother Graham, 41, remain on remand in prison.

The prosecution had countered by seeking a lesser charge of temporary possession of cannabis to put to the two brothers from Milford Haven, west Wales.

During the trial, the court heard the pair set off from Wales in their fishing boat with the dream of setting up a diving school in Portugal.

They had stopped off at the Canary Islands off the Portuguese coast before docking at the port of Faro.

They said they intended to set up a business aimed at the lucrative tourist market.

Portuguese police claimed to find �3m of hashish, weighing 12,000kg, on the bottom of the sea bed as the brothers carried out repairs to their boat, which was in dock.

They were arrested by officers who alleged the brothers had dragged the cannabis across the sea bed using trawler nets.

Graham Stow was with his brother Andrew

Their father, 78-year-old Dilwyn Stow, led a lengthy campaign to have his two sons freed.

He spent thousands battling to prove their innocence and, as the end of their trial approached, he admitted he had reached the stage of possibly having to sell his house to cover their legal fees.

In June, he flew out to Faro to hear that the verdict would not be announced for two months.

They were sentenced two years after their original arrest.