The WikiLeaks founder, 50, had asked the Supreme Court to allow him to challenge a December 2021 decision by the High Court, which ruled he could be extradited to America.

However the Supreme Court today confirmed it had rejected Assange's appeal request.  

The Supreme Court, the UK's highest court, denied his request to challenge the High Court ruling as his application did not raise 'an arguable point of law'.

However, Assange's legal team previously said there were other parts of his appeal that had not yet been heard by the High Court. 

Lawyers for Mr Assange issued a statement and raised concerns about the reliance of the court on the US's guarantee regarding the prison conditions Mr Assange would be kept in, should he be extradited.

A spokesman for Birnberg Peirce Solicitors read: 'We regret that the opportunity has not been taken to consider the troubling circumstances in which Requesting States can provide caveated guarantees after the conclusion of a full evidential hearing.

'In Mr Assange's case, the Court had found that there was a real risk of prohibited treatment in the event of his onward extradition.'

His legal team say the case will now go back to Westminster Magistrates' Court where the decision for extradition will be referred to Home Secretary Priti Patel.

They have four weeks to make submissions at which point Ms Patel, they say, will then decide whether to order or refuse extradition. 

The statement added: 'No appeal to the High Court has yet been filed by him in respect of the other important issues he raised previously in Westminster Magistrates' Court.