More than half of the people in the UK think Scotland's First Minister should take part in the TV leaders' debates in the run-up to the general election while almost two-thirds think the Greens should be involved, a new poll has revealed.

Research by YouGov showed that 53% of adults believe SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon should take part in the head-to-head showdowns in the run-up to the May 7 vote.

Meanwhile, 62% of the 1,684 people across the UK who were questioned want Green leader Natalie Bennett to participate.

In Scotland, two-thirds (66%) of those questioned thought Ms Sturgeon should be included in the debates, with slightly more people (69%) backing the inclusion of Ms Bennett.

Prime Minister David Cameron has already ruled out taking part in the election debates if the Green Party leader is left out - with both Labour and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) accusing him of running scared.

The SNP, which now has more party members than the Liberal Democrats, has previously called for its leader to be included in the main election debates.

With polls indicating the May 7 election could result in no party having an overall majority at Westminster, the nationalists believe they could potentially hold the balance of power across the UK.

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: "This polling is very welcome and shows that south of the border and across the nations and regions of the UK people rightly recognise the need to have Nicola Sturgeon included in the televised debates.

"The YouGov poll also shows Labour, Tory, Lib Dem and major party voters in Scotland agree with Ms Sturgeon's inclusion to the debates - by a margin of nearly three to one when 'Don't Knows' are removed - which speaks volumes about the SNP's strong position ahead of May's general election.

"With a larger membership than the Lib Dems and Ukip combined, and more elected MPs than Ukip, the case for including the SNP is unanswerable.

"It would be ludicrous for the SNP to be shut out of these proposed debates - a position backed by voters north and south of the border - and that is something that should be accepted by all involved."