A Scottish UFO enthusiast accused of the "biggest military hack of all time" has won a two-week stay on his extradition to the US.

Gary McKinnon, 42, who was born in Glasgow, lost his House of Lords appeal against the extradition last month.

He faces up to 70 years in prison and a fine of £1.7m if convicted in the US of sabotaging vital defence systems.

But his solicitors said yesterday that he had been awarded a stay until August 28 by the European Court of Human Rights.

A brief statement said he was granted "interim relief" until that date "for his application to be heard before the full chamber".

The House of Lords earlier rejected a plea by Mr McKinnon, who was never charged in Britain after admitting accessing dozens of US military and Nasa computers, to quash an extradition request granted in 2006.

Lawyers for Mr McKinnon, who moved from Scotland to London with his parents when he was 10, pointed out that he could be sent to Guantanamo Bay as a terrorist suspect, despite his insistence that he accessed Pentagon computers looking for information about UFOs.

From a house in north London, Mr McKinnon hacked into 97 US Military computers at the Pentagon and Nasa between 2001 and 2002.

He never denied wandering around networks of a wide number of US military institutions, but has always maintained he was motivated by curiosity and managed to get in only because of lax security.

American authorities claim he stole 950 passwords and deleted files at Earle Naval Weapons Station in New Jersey.

He was accused of using his computer skills to gain access to 53 US Army computers, including those used for national defence and security, and 26 US Navy computers, including those at the Earle station. He was also charged with hacking into 16 Nasa computers and one US Defence Department computer.

Mr McKinnon lost his case at the High Court last year.

At the House of Lords last month, David Pannick, QC, representing him, said his extradition would be an abuse of proceedings. Mr McKinnon had been warned by the US authorities he faced a life sentence unless he agreed to plead guilty and accept extradition.

Mr McKinnon said he was motivated by curiosity and described his exploits as "ridiculously" easy.

After he lost his Law Lords appeal, calls were made for an urgent review of extradition laws. Mr McKinnon said he felt the US authorities' reaction was out of proportion.

On August 28, the full chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear Mr McKinnon's application to halt his extradition, when it will be argued that his human rights will be infringed if he is sent to the US.