Another poll has underlined the closeness of the indyref campaign as it enters its final week.

The ICM poll for the Guardian found support for Yes on 40%, No on 42%, but there were also 17% of voters who refused to declare their intentions. The figures are rounded.

Although excluding the undecideds produces a headline figures of Yes 49% v No 51%, the level of "don't knows" again reinforces their importance in next week's vote.

The poll was based on telephone interviews conducted between Tuesday and Thursday, the first such survey ICM has conducted during the campaign. Previous polls have been based on online surveys.

The Guardian said that in the UK-wide referendum on the Alternative Vote in 2011, a similar ICM poll predicted the final outcome with remarkable accuracy.

Some 87% of respondents described themselves as "absolutely certain to vote" with young people almost as engaged as their elders, with 82% of 16-24s and 87% of 25-34s insisting that they are 10 out of 10 sure that they will cast a vote.

The 25-34s in particular lean yes, by 57% to 43%. Respondents aged 65+ are inclined to vote no by 61% to 39%.

Excluding don't knows, Scottish women remain loyal to the UK, by 55% to 45%, while Scottish men by contrast are, by 52% to 48%, in favour of independence.

ICM interviewed a representative sample of 1000 people by telephone on September 9-11 across Scotland and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults.

The latest YouGov survey of almost 1,300 people for The Times and The Sun yesterday put support for No at 52%, slightly ahead of Yes at 48%, once undecided voters are factored out.

That contrasted with research by YouGov at the weekend which put support for Yes ahead for the first time in the campaign, with 51% backing independence and 49% preferring to remain part of the UK, when undecided voters were excluded.