A Kent holidaymaker jailed in Morocco for being gay has had the charges he faced formally dropped.

Ray Cole, 70, was locked up with his Moroccan friend Jamal Jam Wald Nass after homosexual images were found on his phone.

The pair were imprisoned in a Marrakesh jail, but were eventually granted a conditional release last month, after nearly three weeks inside.

Now Mr Cole has revealed the charges against him have been formally dropped by the Moroccan authorities.

He told Facebook friends he was pleased to put the "horrible episode" behind him.

The news comes after he was released following 20 days in captivity last month.

He said at the time of his release: "It was horrendous. I've seen things I never knew existed. It's not a prison, it's a concentration camp.

"Prisoners are aged from 10 to their 80s and 90s. It's been a total nightmare and I won't be going back."

Describing his shock at being released, he said: "I'm overwhelmed. I didn't expect this at all.

"I thought I was going to be transferred to a different prison and then they said they were sending me home."

An online petition calling for Mr Cole’s release had reached almost 24,000 signatures.

Scores of campaigners took to social media to draw attention to Mr Cole's plight, including the Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke.

Using the #freeraycole hashtag, they pleaded for help from the likes of Stephen Fry, Clare Balding, Simon Pegg and Lord Alan Sugar to highlight the treatment of the 70-year-old.

English comedian Jason Manford responded to their pleas, calling on David Cameron to sort the situation.

He tweeted: “Sort it Morocco! Either you want to be a tourist destination or you don’t. Can’t have it both ways #freeraycole You sorting this @David_Cameron."

Mr Cole, who used to work for the KM Group and previously lived in West Malling, was on holiday in Marrakesh visiting a Moroccan man when the pair were approached by police at a bus stop and arrested on suspicion of being homosexual - a crime that carries a maximum sentence of three years.

They were both sentenced to four months in prison.