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THE fight to keep the UK together received a much needed boost tonight after a dramatic new poll showed support for independence has stalled.

An exclusive survey for the Daily Record gives the No side a six point lead - the same margin as two months ago.

But the Survation survey of 1000 Scots showed 47.6% plan to vote No a week tomorrow with 42.4% voting Yes. The poll was carried out between Friday evening and Tuesday morning.

When the 10% of people still to make up their mind are removed, that would give a referendum result of 53% No to 47% Yes.

The news will come as a major relief for Better Together boss Alistair Darling, who has been accused of presiding over a “disintegrating” campaign after a bombshell poll on Saturday night put the Nationalists ahead.

While it means the referendum result is still on a knife edge, it may signal the Nationalist momentum built on the back of other narrow polls may have peaked too early.

With the race tightening with just seven days to go, observers had widely expected the poll to show a lead for the Yes campaign as Survation has consistently put Yes support higher than other pollsters.

It showed that men are almost exactly evenly split on independence, with 46.4% planning to vote Yes and 46.8% voting No. But a wider gap between women gave the Unionists their lead.

Survation found 48.5% of women are now planning to vote No compared to 38.6% who will back Yes.

The poll also showed considerable geographical variation in how Scots plan to vote.

The West of Scotland shows most support for Yes (51.3% Yes versus 39.4% No), whilst the No side are strongest in South Scotland (No 55.1% v Yes 38%).

Better Together Campaign Director Blair McDougall said: "This fight for Scotland's future will go right down to the wire, but it's one we will win.

"Alex Salmond wants us to take so many huge risks - over our pound, pensions and NHS. The last few days have shown that these risks are real. Separation would cost jobs and push up costs for families in Scotland. This is too important for a protest vote. There would be no going back.

"We don't need to take on all these risks. There is a better way for Scotland. We can have more powers for Scotland over tax and welfare, and keep the strength, security and stability of being part of the larger UK. For the sake of future generations we should say No Thanks to separation next week."