Hillary Clinton has won the second presidential debate according to voters, the first opinion poll has found.

The CNN poll found 57 per cent of people feel Ms Clinton won the debate, compared to 34 per cent of voters who felt Donald Trump performed best.

A further poll by YouGov found 47 per cent of people polled favoured Ms Clinton while 42 per cent backed Mr Trump.

Among people who had previously been undecided about who they would be casting their vote for, Clinton also won narrowly by 44 per cent to 41 per cent.

What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women “I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis” Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton “I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.” Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton “What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women.” AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "It’s not debunked. It’s not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist “I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.” Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton “I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter.” Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "It’s called extreme vetting. We’re going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty

The heated debate took place following one of the most dramatic and bitter weekends in the election, after footage emerged of Mr Trump allegedly discussing groping women. Mr Trump was challenged by the convenor about his comments. He responded that he was "embarassed" by his comments but said "I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do."

Mr Trump responded by criticising Ms Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, accusing his of abusing women. In a press conference held before the debate, Mr Trump sat with alleged victims of Mr Clinton who accused him of rape and sexual harassment.

“Mine were words, his was action,” Mr Trump said of Mr Clinton.

“What he's done to women, there's never been any body in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women.”

Mrs Clinton said the comments made by her Republican rival in the recording represented “exactly who he is”.

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She added: “We've seen him insult women, we've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to 10, we've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter.”

The debate was the second of three televised head-to-head between the two candidates.