THE SNP has been accused of preparing a new referendum campaign after registering a website to organise supporters, despite claiming in public its plans were on hold.

Called organise.scot, the site was created by the same SNP computer expert who registered two pro-independence websites - ref.scot and mobilise.scot - for the party last year.

The new website was purchased after Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament she had “reset” her referendum timetable in the wake of SNP’s general election losses.

The SNP declined to explain the reason for the new site.

However opposition parties said it suggested the First Minister had already decided to push for a referendum in the autumn.

If Ms Sturgeon did call a new vote, Theresa May is unlikely to give Holyrood the necessary power to hold one - as the PM did last year, saying “now is not the time” - but a refusal could still be a useful campaign tool for the SNP going into the 2021 Scottish election.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's office denies backsliding on referendum timetable

Ms Sturgeon first announced a second referendum last March, saying voters should have a choice between Brexit and independence by spring 2019.

On the same day, the SNP launched a related website, ref.scot, which included a fundraising appeal for £1m, which raised almost half its target before being abandoned.

After the SNP lost 21 of its 56 seats in June’s snap election, Ms Sturgeon said she had “reset” her timetable, telling MSPs she would return to Holyrood in autumn 2018 to set out “the precise timescale for offering people a choice over the country’s future”.

As in March, the SNP launched a related website the same day, mobilise.scot, which urged people to “join the movement” and “build a better Scotland”.

Ms Sturgeon’s husband, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, was their official “promoter”.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's office denies backsliding on referendum timetable

Both websites were registered by Chris Jones, who has been the SNP’s head of data and technology since December 2014.

He registered ref.scot and mobilise.scot for the SNP last March and June, as well as vote.scot and makeaplantovote.scot in April, ahead of the local and general elections.

He registered organise.scot in July, three weeks after Ms Sturgeon’s “reset” speech.

Unlike most of his related work for the SNP, he registered organise.scot using his personal email and home address, not his SNP email and SNP HQ address.

Opposition parties said organise.scot, which is currently blank, appeared to have been created in readiness for the next phase of independence campaigning.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw (pictured above) said: “This shows that while Nicola Sturgeon was pretending to the people of Scotland she was pausing the independence agitation, her party machine was doing the very opposite.

“Despite accepting the voters didn’t want another referendum, her IT elves were busy building the online foundation for another push.

“No matter what the nationalists say in public, they will never be able to let go in private."

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's office denies backsliding on referendum timetable

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie added: “Rather than fix our creaking public services, the First Minister has once again put her boffins to the task of plotting another referendum.

"After losing seats at the Westminster Election she gave the impression of listening and promised to 'reset' her independence plans. That hasn’t lasted long.

"With the turmoil of Brexit the last thing we need is the turmoil of independence too. The SNP should bin their never-ending independence campaign."

(Willie Rennie)

The SNP declined to explain the reason for the new website.

A spokesperson said: “We'll let Jackson Carlaw in on a wee secret - the SNP has been campaigning for an independent Scotland since the 1930s.”