More than 300 students held a protest to campaign against the imminent deportation of a university administrator who had previously been detained under the Terrorism Act.

The campaigners stood in silence at the University of Nottingham for five minutes, their mouths gagged with handkerchiefs, in protest at the treatment of Hicham Yezza.

The 30-year-old, a former student at the university, was arrested earlier this month under the Terrorism Act on suspicion of possessing extremist material.

Yezza was cleared of any involvement in terrorist activity after police found the Algerian had been passed an al Qaida training manual by postgraduate student Rizwaan Sabir to print.

Mr Sabir, 22, needed the 1,500-page document as part of research for a dissertation.

Both men were held for six days before being released without charge on May 20.

But while Mr Sabir was free to go, Yezza was rearrested on suspicion of not having the right documentation to work in the UK legally.

He has been employed by the university since February last year and before his arrest was working as personal assistant to the head of modern languages at the university.

He has since been charged with one offence and is currently being held at an immigration detention centre awaiting his scheduled deportation on Sunday. His solicitor has said a flight has been booked ahead of his removal.

It is understood that if he is sent back to Algeria, the charge against Yezza will be dropped.