Assisted suicide could be encouraged by doctors to ease pressures on the public health system in the UK, the public fears.

A survey has found more than four in ten (43 per cent) believe the practice could be used in that way.

The public also feared, by 56 per cent to 27 per cent, that it could lead to a culture where suicide became more normalised.

The finding has emerged in a major poll of the public on euthanasia and assisted suicide which found most people supported legalising it but believed it would backfire in practice.

The survey of just over 2,000 adults revealed 60 per cent backed legalising “assisted suicide” where a doctor handed a patient lethal drugs so they could end their life. Only 11 per cent opposed it.

But nearly half of the public (46 per cent) believed there were too many complicating factors to make it a practical and safe option to implement in Britain.