Nicola Sturgeon said the BBC needed a "reality check", after Andrew Marr asked her if she would apologise for her role in this year's General Election.

The party lost a third of its MPs in June, including big hitters like former leader Alex Salmond and Westminster boss Angus Robertson, but still emerged as comfortably the largest party winning 35 seats.

Theresa May, before her conference speech last week turned disastrous thanks to pranks, coughs and set mishaps, apologised to Tory members for calling the election and losing the party's majority.

But Sturgeon pointed to a poll published on Saturday that said the SNP were 17 points ahead in Scotland to defend her record.

When Marr started his interview by asking if she would apologise to members this week, she hit back: "The BBC needs a bit of a reality check. There was an opinion poll published yesterday that said the SNP is 17 points clear of our nearest rival.

"When I became SNP leader the SNP had six MPs in the House of Commons. We've got 35 MPs today. The 2015 election was an exceptional election and an exceptional result. I regret every seat we lost and we reflect very, very carefully on that."

But she said: "All in the all, the SNP is in a very strong position."

The SNP said the results of Saturday's poll, published on the eve of the party's three-day autumn conference, showed support for the SNP higher than at the same point after previous Holyrood elections.

The poll predicted that the SNP would win 42% of the constituency vote, and 35% on the regional lists. The Tories would be pushed back into third place.

SNP Business Convener Derek Mackay said: "After 10 years into government, it's a remarkable vote of confidence that the SNP outperforms itself in mid-term polling.

"And with the Tories falling back into third place, it's pretty clear the Davidson bubble has well and truly burst.

"With Theresa May making a complete mess of negotiations, anti-Brexit sentiment in Scotland is getting even stronger, in face of the huge threat to jobs and living standards posed by the Tories, who should see sense and commit to protecting our place in the single market."