Nearly half of Britons think the government is planning to take too many refugees from Syria, a poll has revealed.

Data published last night exposed the huge gap between the public and opposition parties in Westminster, who have accused David Cameron of not doing enough.

Yesterday senior Labour figures demanded that Britain take even more refugees than the number planned by ministers, but a YouGov survey showed voters are hostile to the idea.

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Nearly half of Britons think the government is planning to take too many refugees from Syria, a poll has revealed. Above, hundreds of migrants break out of a holding area and run away from police in Roszke, Hungary

Mr Cameron said on Monday that 20,000 would come to the UK over the next five years under a UN scheme targeting the most vulnerable. They will be taken from refugee camps in countries neighbouring Syria, to which Britain has donated hundreds of millions of pounds in aid.

But the poll revealed that 45 per cent of adults questioned said the figure was too high, while one in four – a total of 27 per cent – said they backed Mr Cameron's decision. Just 15 per cent said they opposed the announcement on the grounds that it did not go far enough.

Hostility to additional refugees was even high among people who identified as Labour supporters. Nearly four in ten – 38 per cent – said they wanted fewer than 20,000.

This is despite senior Labour figures queuing up this week to demand Britain do more, and posing in pictures on Twitter with signs saying 'refugees welcome'.

Police in Hungary round up migrants, who are attempting to get to Germany and Austria after the countries said they could seek asylum there

Migrants thought to be from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan arrive on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey to Lesbos island, Greece

Yesterday Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper repeated the demand in the House of Commons in an 'emergency' debate on the refugee crisis. She said Britain should also accept people who have already made it into Europe.

Miss Cooper told the House of Commons: 'The Prime Minister said yesterday that he would help up to 20,000 refugees over the five-year parliament.

'But the crisis is now and helping 4,000 refugees this year isn't enough. Four thousand compared to the 24,000 in France, hundreds of thousands in Germany.

'Four thousand compared to our population of 60million, 4,000 compared to the 10,000 we helped in just nine months under the Kindertransport, 4,000 compared to the 19,000 Vietnamese boat people who fled to Britain from the Viet Cong and 4,000 compared to the 24,000 Kosovans that came to Britain in the late 1990s. We can do more than this.'

Labour MP Gerald Kaufman said the government's response to the crisis was 'mean'. 'We will be ashamed. This is not the will of the people of this country. Every indication both nationally and from our constituents is people want to be more generous.'

Senior Labour figures posing in pictures on Twitter with signs saying 'refugees welcome'. Clockwise from top left: Green MP Caroline Lucas, Labour leadership hopefuls Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron and Labour MP Sadiq Khan

However critics argue that accepting refugees who have already crossed into the EU would act as a draw to other arrivals.

Tory MP Nigel Evans said: 'By the end of today Miss Cooper had at least 30,000 coming to Britain. She's allowed her heart to race ahead of her head and those of the British people.

'To scoop up thousands from mainland Europe will only make this situation worse and encourage more people to come and make treacherous journeys.

'Labour have got themselves into a compassion bidding war which would ultimately end in misery and more lives lost.'

Separate polling on the YouGov website showed a breakdown of how many extra Syrian migrants the public think Britain should take. More than one in four said zero, 8 per cent said 1,000 and 9 per cent 5,000 – meaning 44 per cent of those questioned wanted fewer than 5,000.

Sixteen per cent said the number should be 10,000 and one in ten 50,000.