The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, London

Support for an independent Scotland has risen by five percent in the last three months, according to the findings of a poll published by the Sunday Herald newspaper.

Some 40 percent of Scots support an end to the 300-year-old union with England, up from 35 percent in a similar survey in August, pollsters TNS System Three found.

Those who wanted Scotland to continue being part of the United Kingdom was still higher, at 44 percent, although down from 50 percent in August.

Just under 1,000 people were surveyed, using the exact question that Scotland's pro-independence First Minister Alex Salmond wants to use in a referendum on the issue.