WOMEN and Labour voters are increasingly backing independence according to two new opinion polls - one of which puts the Yes campaign in the lead.

Both moves have echoes of the 2011 Holyrood elections, which delivered a landslide victory for the SNP.

Polls over the course of the independence campaign have shown women are much more likely to reject leaving the UK than men.

But a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times, which puts Yes at 51 per cent and No on 49 per cent, showed that gap closing considerably.

The proportion of women supporting independence has increased from 33 per cent to 47 per cent over the past month, the pollster said.

There was a similar shift among Labour supporters.

More than one-third, 35 per cent, of party voters now said they would back independence, up from 18 per cent a month ago.

The poll also showed the only age group with backing No was the over-60s.

That finding will provide some comfort for the Pro-Union parties, as the older generations are traditionally more likely to vote than their younger counterparts.

The overall result overturned a 22-point lead for the Unionist campaign in a similar poll carried out by YouGov a month ago.

The survey was conducted after the second of the two televised independence debates, in which First Minister Alex Salmond was widely thought to have trounced Better Together leader Alistair Darling.

There were similar findings in the second survey, a Panelbase poll commissioned by the Yes campaign, which showed support for independence on the rise but short of a majority at 48 per cent.

The proportion of women backing separation from the UK was at 47 per cent, which Yes Scotland said was a 13 point increase in six months.

Alistair Darling, who leads the Better Together campaign, said: "This (new poll) must serve as a wake-up call to anyone who thought the referendum result was a foregone conclusion.

"It never was. It will go down to the wire. Now is the time to speak up and speak out."

He added: "The polls may conflict, but the message I take from them is clear: If you want Scotland to remain part of the UK family you have to vote for it on September 18. Separation is forever."

Others within the wider No campaign described the result as "energising".

Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the poll as "exceptionally positive" but added that the Yes campaign has much yet to do.

"Yes still has a lot of work to do to win on the 18th. We remain the underdogs, but we approach the final 10 days with huge enthusiasm and confidence.

"A positive finding that everyone can unite on - whether Yes or No - is that overwhelmingly people in Scotland believe that deciding our future in a democratic referendum is something we can be very proud of as a nation.

"The referendum has engaged many people who have never voted before in their lives, filled public halls the length and breadth of the country, and ushered in a sense of possibility and creativity.

"The challenge for all of us is to unite as a country once the decision is made, and do everything we can to maintain this boost in democratic participation that the referendum has ushered in."

A survey of 1,000 users of the website Mumsnet, all of whom are eligible to vote, found 48 per cent said they were planning to vote Yes compared to 41 per cent who are planning to vote No.

The survey also repeated similar findings that many Scots regard the pledge to block sharing of the pound as a "bluff".

A total of 61 per cent of those who took part in the survey said they thought Scotland would be allowed to keep the pound - in a currency union with the rest of the UK - if Scotland were to vote Yes and become independent.