Families of those killed in the Birmingham pub bombings have welcomed a legal ruling ordering a coroner in England to reconsider his decision to restrict the scope of inquests into the atrocity.

Self-confessed IRA man Michael Hayes could be questioned by the British authorities in connection with the Birmingham pub bombings, High Court judges have heard.

There has never been a "full and independent investigation" into who carried out the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings, lawyers for the victims' relatives have told a court.