NICOLA Sturgeon faces an uphill battle persuading voters that an independent Scotland should use any currency other than sterling, as an exclusive poll for the Herald shows almost two-thirds of the Scots want to maintain the pound.

The First Minister has asked a new growth task force to consider future currency options, following criticism of the SNP's proposal to share sterling during 2014's independence campaign.

The party suffered a blow when the then chancellor George Osborne ruled out a currency union with an independent Scotland and the Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney insisted that “a currency union is incompatible with sovereignty”.

Today, an exclusive BMG poll for the Herald suggests that 64 per cent of Scots want to continue using the sterling if the country's ultimately votes for independence in the future.

Almost a quarter, 24 per cent, plumped for a new currency, such as a Scottish pound while just over one in 10 (12 per cent) preferred switching to the euro when asked which currency they would rather have.

Scottish Labour said that the poll of over 1,000 adults demonstrated that there was “overwhelming” backing for the pound.

But the Scottish Greens hailed the level of support for a separate currency, an option the party said had so far barely been debated.

A spokesman for the SNP said the Scottish Government was exploring all possible avenues to protect Scotland's place in Europe with independence one of the available options "if it becomes clear it is the best or only way of doing so".

He added: "The SNP has established a Growth Commission which, as well as making recommendations for measures to boost economic growth, will consider the most appropriate monetary policy arrangements to underpin a programme for sustainable growth in an independent Scotland."

The First Minister has said that the possibility of another independence referendum is "on the table" following June's shock referendum to leave the European Union in which 64 per cent of Scots voted to remain within the bloc.

In September she announced that the new 14-strong 'Growth Commission' - which include leading Scottish business figures, economists and politician - would examine what currency options an independent Scotland could use.

It followed warnings over the summer that the proposal to keep the pound and enter a currency union with the rest of the UK had been a major weakness of the Yes campaign for independence.

Polling after the referendum suggested that more than half of 'No' voters cited currency fears as the main reason that they rejected independence.

In August Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize winning economist who advises Ms Sturgeon, argued that the pledge to retain the pound may have been a “mistake”.

He also warned against adopting the euro, advocating instead a 'free-floating' Scottish pound, which he said could be used to stimulate the economy.

In the run up to the European Union referendum, Ms Sturgeon said that an independent Scotland could consider using the euro if the value of the pound plummeted after a Brexit vote.

But just last month, Deputy First Minister John Swinney suggested the SNP could fight a second independence referendum campaign arguing again for a currency union.

Mr Swinney had suggested George Osborne's decision to deny an independent Scotland access to a currency union with the remainder of the UK had been "one of the factors that drove people into our arms" because they had "resented being shoved around by a Tory chancellor”.

The findings of the BMG poll has also revealed that women are more likely to want to keep the pound than men and older people are also more like to want to use sterling than the young.

The poll showed that sterling it is the favoured currency choice of more than half of those asked in every age group.

Labour MP Ian Murray said: "This poll shows the overwhelming support for keeping the pound, but Scotland would lose the pound if we left the UK.

"That's why the SNP should stop agitating for a second divisive independence referendum and focus on the bread and butter issues like our NHS and sorting out ScotRail."

Ross Greer, the external affairs spokesperson, for the Scottish Greens, welcomed support for his party’s favoured outcome of an independent currency “particularly as it’s an idea which has seen very little debate so far.”

The Greens would continue to develop the details of the proposals over the coming months, he said, “as an independence referendum seems increasingly likely”.

BMG Research polled a representative sample of 1,012 Scottish adults online between November 11 and 16.