SCOTS feel less European than people across the rest of Britain, according to a new study which raises questions about whether the forthcoming EU referendum might spark a second independence vote.

An analysis by polling expert Rachel Ormston found just nine per cent of Scots described themselves as European compared with 15 per cent across the UK as a whole.

She said the findings - which emerged despite significantly higher levels of support among Scots for staying in the EU - debunked myths of a Europhile Scotland based on "tales of the Auld Alliance".

The NatCen Social Research report, published today, found people across Britain were much less likely to identify as European than their Continental neighbours.

In Scotland, it said those who identified as "Scottish not British" were the most likely group to want to leave the EU.

The study is based on long-running research including the British and Scottish Social Attitudes Surveys.

Ms Ormston, head of social attitudes at NatCen, wrote: "Much has been made in recent months of the possibility that a vote to leave the European Union could trigger a further referendum on Scottish independence, on the basis that Scotland is supposedly more ‘pro-European’ than England and would not tolerate being led out of the EU against its will.

"However, leaving aside the issue of whether Scotland is indeed more pro-EU, data from Scottish Social Attitudes casts doubt on the notion that Scotland is substantially more ‘pro-European’ in terms of people’s identity.

"Of course, this apparent lack of European identity does not preclude the possibility that people in Scotland are more strongly in favour of political and economic union with Europe but it does at least call into question the notion that people in Scotland are more likely to identify with Europe in a more emotional sense, based perhaps on tales of the ‘Auld Alliance’ with France or links with Nordic sensibilities and customs."

She added "Perhaps for many Scots the debate about ‘Scottishness’ and ‘Britishness’ and the relationship between the two simply crowds out the possibility of feeling an additional, supranational identity."

The study quoted figures from a recent EU survey which suggested Britons were the least likely of all EU citizens to see themselves as European.

However, feelings of European identity were not the decisive factor in people's support for staying in the EU.

A slight majority - 51 per cent - of people who did not feel European still wanted to remain in the EU, the report noted.

David Cameron has promised an In/Out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.

Nicola Sturgeon has said a vote to leave, if not backed by a majority of Scots, could trigger a second independence referendum.

However she will only call an independence vote if anger at EU result sparks an upsurge in support for independence.

Last week, Ms Ormston's colleague at NatCen, Professor John Curtice, published a study showing Scots were keener on staying on the EU than people across the rest of Britain.

It quoted a British Election Study finding, shortly after the General Election, that 58 per cent of those living in Scotland wanted to remain and only 28 per cent wanted to leave.

In contrast, amongst those living in England, 45 per cent wanted to stay and 35 per cent to leave.

He concluded the difference was down to the popularity of the strongly pro-EU SNP in Scotland, while in England "nationalist sentiment" was expressed by the anti-EU Ukip.

He cast doubt on the idea that Scotland's removal from the EU would spark a surge in support for independence, arguing the SNP would have to win over many "less Euro-enthusiastic voters" for that to happen.