Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been released from prison.

The brothers have been moved house arrest following a ruling by a Romanian judge.

The ruling by the Court of Appeal in Bucharest speeds up the Tate's release and replaces their latest period of custody which was due to end on 29 April.

The brothers have been detained since December and are currently being investigated on allegations of rape, people trafficking and forming an organised crime group.

Both Andrew and Tristan have denied all charges.

Two other associates, Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu, are also being released.

All four have now been ordered to stay in the buildings where they live, unless they have judicial permission to leave.

A spokeswoman for the Tate brothers told the BBC the brothers were "ecstatic".

Lawyers for Mr Tate have stayed arguing that keeping Andrew in preventative custody is unnecessarily harsh, particularly when other judicial options such as house arrest are available.

Leaked court documents outlined the testimony from alleged victims who claimed to be forced to earn £8,800 a month on social media platforms, under an alleged threat of physical violence.

Court papers also described debts being used as "a form of psychological coercion".

Investigations began last April and six women have been identified by prosecutors as victims.

Despite this, no charges have yet been brought against the brothers or the two Romanian associates who were arrested alongside them.

Andrew Tate is a British-American former kickboxer and was removed from British TV show Big Brother over a video which appeared to show him attacking a woman.

He then went on to gain popularity online, with Twitter banning him from the platform for insinuating that women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted.

He has since been reinstated onto all social platforms following a widespread social media ban.

He has since gained further popularity, with over five million followers on Twitter.

His content is mostly targeted toward young men by promoting what he presented as a hyper-masculine, ultra-luxurious lifestyle.