A British mother has vowed to continue her long-running fight to secure custody of her twin boys, despite suffering a legal blow this week.

A court in Vienna rejected Beth Alexander’s appeal against an earlier decision to award her ex-husband full custody of the children.

Ms Alexander’s legal battle with the boys’ father, Austrian Michael Schlesinger, began in 2011 when the couple separated.

But the Manchester-born mother has now vowed to take the case to the country’s Supreme Court.

“I feel like someone who has been put on death row. I have to keep fighting for the kids. They deserve to have a mother. I cannot sleep until I have some justice,” she told the JC.

In August, Ms Alexander said she felt as if she had been “convicted of a crime” after Dr Schlesinger won custody of four-year-olds Samuel and Benji.

On Wednesday she was informed that her appeal against that decision had been unsuccessful.

“They just rejected everything. We submitted 60 pages of documents. I appealed for full custody or at least an increase in my visitation rights,” she said.

Ms Alexander is currently only allowed to see her children every Tuesday for six hours and on every other Sunday.

Thousands of supporters of Ms Alexander have backed her campaign, signing petitions and holding rallies in Britain.