Nearly half of Scottish adults believe the police are too heavy handed or deploy too many officers when dealing with peaceful protests.

46% of those who took part in the YouGov survey, which was released on behalf of Christian Aid, criticised the methods of police forces.

Meanwhile, 88% of Scottish respondents thought everyone in the UK should have the right to peaceful protest.

The results also show 32% of Scots think the police filming protesters is an invasion of privacy and suggests 16% of Scots will be put off protesting in the future because of heavy handed policing.

It highlighted the recent incidents involving the police at the G20 summit in London as having made people worried about their safety.

Paul Brannen, head of campaigns at Christian Aid said: "Campaigning on issues such as climate change and how it affects the poor is a vital part of Christian Aid's work.

"It is very important we give people the opportunity to peacefully protest about issues that matter to them and help the public to hold the government to account.

"It is worrying that recent incidents involving the police at peaceful protests have made members of the public think twice about taking part in future peaceful demonstrations."