A 15,000 name petition calling on MSPs to vote down plans to legalise assisted suicide is to be presented to the Scottish Parliament.

The petition claims vulnerable people will be made to feel a "burden on others" and pressured to take their own lives if the Assisted Suicide Bill becomes law.

Names have been collected over the past seven months by Care Not Killing, a campaign comprising faith groups, disability rights bodies and individuals.

The Bill will allow people with terminal of life-shortening illnesses to obtain help to end their lives.

It was introduced by the late Margo MacDonald in 2013 and been championed by Greens leader Patrick Harvie since her death.

MSPs will vote on the plans next Wednesday. The 15,380-name petition will be handed to Holyrood's deputy presiding officer Elaine Smith tomorrow.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, spokesman for Care Not Killing, said: "We have been encouraged by the significant levels of support which the petition has attracted from the length and breadth of the country.

"It is clear that there is not an appetite in Scotland to change the law and make assisted suicide legal.

"And we hope that view is reflected in the way our MSPs cast their votes on a rare occasion when it is truly a matter of life and death."

He added: "We are firmly of the belief that any such legislative change would place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others.

"This would especially affect people who are disabled, elderly, sick or depressed."

A previous attempt to legalise assisted suicide was rejected by MSPs in 2010.

Holyrood's health committee concluded there were "significant flaws" to the latest bill, but said MSPs should have a vote on it.