Football fan Gary Mann has been given a temporary reprieve from extradition to Portugal.

The European Court of Human Rights says the decision on extradition has been referred back to the UK courts where the case will be heard before the end of March.

Mr Mann, of Gordon Square, Faversham, was convicted of rioting at Euro 2004 faces being sent back to Portugal, despite one of the UK's most senior judges describing his case as a "serious injustice".

Portugal wants to extradite him because he didn't serve his sentence in Britain after he was deported.

But the ex-firefighter has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, protesting his innocence and blaming a series of legal mistakes.

Giving a ruling at the High Court earlier last month, Lord Justice Moses said Mr Mann's lawyers, in Portugal and in the UK, had twice failed to appeal various aspects of the case when they should have done.

But the judge ruled the High Court had no jurisdiction to interfere with an earlier decision, made at The City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, to extradite Mr Mann to the continent. Mr Mann had hoped Tuesday would bring him the chance of a full trial, something he has been campaigning six years to have.

Audio: Gary Mann giving his reaction to the ruling

He said: "It's all a bit exhausting. I want to start looking for work and getting on with my life. It's getting quite hard at the moment."

At the High Court last month, Mr Mann's lawyers argued that his trial just 24 hours after the Algarve riot was a "flagrant denial of justice".

A British police officer present at the court in Albufeira has since described proceedings there as a farce.

However, Lord Justice Moses, sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom, ruled the High Court's hands were tied by the law and they could not intervene in the case.

The judge said he could not pass comment on whether or not Mr Mann received a fair trial, as the Portuguese authorities insist that they did nothing wrong.