A NEW poll shows support towards independence surging as Britain gets closer to Brexit.

The panelbase survey for Wings Over Scotland asked respondents whether in a 2019 indyref they’d choose an independent Scotland in the EU, or stay in the UK outside Europe.

49 per cent of Scots said yes to an independent Scotland, while 51 per cent would rather be in a UK that's crashed out of Europe.

Intriguingly it shows around a fifth of no voters at the last indyref moving over to yes,and conversely a fifth of yes voters moving to no.

There’s also a clear age gap with the majority of under 55s backing independence, and older voters overwhelmingly backing the union.

Those who backed a Remain vote in the EU referendum also support an independent Scotland in Europe.

Unsurprisingly, there’s still some resistance to the prospect of independence from Scottish residents who hail from other parts of the UK.

While people born in Scotland back independence 52 to 48, for the nine per cent of people born south of the border, support for the union is a huge 72 to 28 per cent, 21 per cent of those who voted Leave last June would switch sides if it meant independence, but 32 per cent of Remain voters would rather leave if the alternative to Brexit was Scotland taking charge of its own affairs.

An SNP Spokesperson said: “This poll shows support for independence on the cusp of an outright majority, in line with other recent opinion polls.

“And support for independence is only likely to grow further in the coming months as people react to the Theresa May’s chaotic extreme Brexit plans.

“This is an arrogant Tory government that thinks it can do what it wants to Scotland and get away with it. But people across Scotland see the folly of being dragged out of the world’s biggest single market – which is around eight times bigger than the UK’s alone – against our democratic will."

The poll will make interesting reading for Richard Leonard, with almost half of 2017 Labour voters willing to back independence to stay in Europe, along with more than a third of Lib Dems.