Edinburgh’s High Court was asked yesterday to determine if an appeal against the conviction of the supposed Lockerbie bomber can be taken forward by victims’ relatives.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) confirmed it was seeking the opinion of judges in relation to the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Previous court decisions have meant that only the executor of a dead person’s estate or their next of kin could proceed with such a posthumous application.

The SCCRC wants to establish whether a member of the victims’ families — such as Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter in the bombing — might be classed as a “person with a legitimate interest to pursue an appeal” if the case was referred back to the High Court.

Two-hundred and seventy people were killed when a bomb exploded on board Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, on December 21 1988.

Mr Megrahi was the only person convicted over the atrocity but grave concerns have long existed over the safety of the conviction.