Human rights activists have branded the jailing in Iran of an Iranian-British woman for trying to attend a men's volleyball game as "appalling".

Ghoncheh Ghavami, 25, was jailed for a year after being found guilty of "propagating against the ruling system", her lawyer said.

Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei said he had been shown the text of the court's verdict but is still waiting to officially receive it.

Ms Ghavami, a graduate of the University of London's School of African and Oriental Studies, was detained in June at a Tehran stadium after trying to attend a men's volleyball match between Iran and Italy.

She was held for a few hours and then released but she was detained again a few days later. She stood trial last month.

Iran banned women from volleyball games in 2012, extending a long-standing ban on football matches.

Ms Ghavami, from Shepherd's Bush in west London, was taking part in a protest against a ban on women in Iran attending sporting events in the company of men in public stadiums.

Amnesty International has described Ms Ghavami as a prisoner of conscience, and called for her immediate release.

More than 700,000 people have signed an online petition urging the authorities to free her.

UK director Kate Allen said: "This is an appalling verdict.

"It's an outrage that a young woman is being locked up simply for peacefully having her say about how women are discriminated against in Iran.

"Ghoncheh is a prisoner of conscience and the Iranian authorities should quash the sentence and release her immediately and unconditionally.

"The authorities should also investigate allegations that Ghoncheh was subjected to death threats by her interrogators and provide compensation for her arbitrary detention and her prolonged solitary confinement."