MORE than half of people support the current temporary ban on fracking in Scotland just months after the first imports of shale gas arrived on the country’s shores, according to a new opinion poll.

Less than a fifth of the 1,000 people questioned over the controversial issue are opposed to the process which sees natural gas extracted from the earth.

The Scottish Government has retained its moratorium announced in January last year, despite petro-chemical giant Ineos making the first shipments of the gas to Grangemouth in September, and plans a public consultation next year.

Opposition politicians said the BMG survey for The Herald showed that ministers should ban fracking completely.

But the Scottish Government said it showed Scots back their decision it was determined to take a “cautious, evidence-led approach”.

Liam McArthur, the Scottish Liberal Democrats energy spokesman, said: “This survey shows that the SNP should stop dragging their heels and ban fracking altogether.”

Opening up a new front of carbon-based energy production would do nothing to meet climate commitments, he added.

“While the indications are that the Scottish Government is heading towards a ban, they still remain nailed to the fence. If the SNP are serious about tackling climate change, ministers must join the Scottish Liberal Democrats in unequivocally ruling out fracking.”

Lang Banks, the director of WWF Scotland, said: “It’s great to see a majority of Scots have seen through the PR spin of the fossil fuel industry and are in favour of a fracking ban.”

He urged Scottish ministers to “listen to the public and implement a ban on fracking as they have already done on underground coal gasification”.

The survey also found 20 per cent of Scots reject the idea that global warming is related to human action.

But the Scottish Government said that ministers were determined to take a “cautious, evidence-led approach”.

The poll found also that support for gas exploration collapsed when the word “fracking” was mentioned.

The process sees water, sand and chemicals pumped deep underground at high pressure to fracture shale rock and release gas.

However, the SNP government has come under pressure to make a long-term decision after the Grangemouth refinery began importing US shale gas to Scotland in September.

Scottish ministers are to hold a public consultation next year.

The poll asked: “The Scottish Government currently has a temporary ban on fracking in Scotland. Do you support or oppose the continuation of the ban?”

BMG found that 54 per cent of Scots said that they supported a ban, 19 per cent were opposed, while the rest said that neither option fitted their opinion.

Mr Banks' said of the the global warming poll results: “While the overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that humans are responsible for global climate change, there have always been a minority of the general public who do not.”

Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ co-convener, said that the poll demonstrated that Scotland was among the most “climate savvy” countries in the world, with 80 per cent accepting the science on the issue.

He added: “A ban on fracking, along with a blueprint for stable jobs in energy efficiency and renewables, we suspect will have the support of a large majority in Scotland.”

The Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Alexander Burnett said that the Scottish Government had a responsibility to explore the “potential” of fracking.

“It can do that safely and legally, and perhaps if it did, more people would be open-minded about the future of shale extraction,” he said.

“If the SNP doesn’t get on and do this, Scotland could miss out on a boom which boosts the economy and lowers energy bills.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said that the poll showed that Scots “back our decision to introduce a moratorium on unconventional oil and gas, which prevents ‘fracking’ taking place here.

“Scottish Ministers are determined to take a cautious, evidence-led approach to this important issue, not least given concerns that it is proposed, by supporters of the technology, to happen under the densely populated Central Belt of Scotland.”

A British Geological Survey report on fracking released by the Scottish Government this month showed that while the process did spark tremors they were “too small to be felt”.

A separate report by Health Protection Scotland, however, found evidence that the technique could pose a risk to fracking workers.

The SNP manifesto said that the party would not allow fracking unless it was “proven beyond any doubt that there is no risk to health, communities or the environment”

The poll, of 1,039 people in October, found SNP and Labour voters opposed fracking, while Conservatives backed it.