Paul Conroy, a British Sunday Times journalist who was wounded in Syria in the attack which killed his colleague Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, is said to be "safe and sound" in Lebanon.

Conroy's father Les said he was safely evacuated from the embattled city of Homs early on Tuesday morning.

"We've just had word from Beirut. I've got it on the other phone in my other hand," Conroy senior said.

Conroy's wife, Kate, said: "I have heard that he is out. All I can say is that we are delighted and overjoyed at the news but I am not going to say any more than that at this point."

She said she had not yet spoken to her husband.

An FCO spokesperson on Tuesday afternoon: “We can now confirm that the injured British journalist Paul Conroy is safely in Lebanon, where he is receiving full consular assistance from our Embassy.”

French reporter Edith Bouvier, of Le Figaro newspaper, who was injured in the attack has also been evacuated according to Reuters.

Journalist Conroy, 47, from Totnes, Devon, appealed for help earlier in a video posted on YouTube.

Lying on a sofa in a darkened room and covered in a blanket, he said he sustained "three large wounds" to his leg in the attack and was being looked after by Free Syrian Army medical staff.

The freelance photographer and film-maker, who was also hit in the stomach by shrapnel, added that he wanted to reassure family and friends in Britain that he was "absolutely OK".

It was previously reported that an attempt on Monday by the Red Cross to remove the journalists from the city had failed after similar unsuccessful attempts over the weekend.

On Sunday, Mr Conroy's wife Kate said her husband had rejected an opportunity to leave Homs with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent for fear it was "not to be trusted", the Press Association reported.

The journalists' release came as French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe accused Syria of breaking "all the limits of barbarism."