HUNDREDS of campaigners descended on London to call for former serviceman Billy Irving to be released from an Indian jail.

The protestors flocked to the Indian Embassy, where they held a peaceful demonstration calling for the 38-year-old to be freed from Puzhal Central Prison.

As organisers planned the event for last Friday, Billy revealed to supporters he would be going on hunger strike over his “wrongful imprisonment”.

The ex-paratrooper was jailed for five years last January for possessing illegal weapons.

He was one of six British ex-servicemen – dubbed the “Chennai Six” – detained in 2013 after India’s coastguard claimed the MV Seaman Guard Ohio they were working on was carrying guns without permits.

Billy’s fiancee Yvonne MacHugh, 28, from Neilston, attended the protest.

She said: “He cannot be in London to protest with us but, by going on hunger strike, this is his protest, asking both the British Government and Indian Government to look at this case and why he and the other men are still wrongly imprisoned.”

Writing on the Bring Billy Back Facebook page, his dad Jim added: “The men are so appreciative of the actions taken by others on their behalf and those taking part in the hunger strike feel it is the only protest they can make to show their support.

“They have notified the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and the prison management of their intended actions. It is the only way the men have to show their anger and frustration at the injustice of this farce, which has been dragged out by the Indian ‘regime’ for almost four years.”

“Please, please keep up your support by pestering your MPs, be they new or old, to keep pressure on the UK government to taking some positive action to get these men home.”