A strong supporter of Scotland remaining in the UK, Rory Stewart says he would campaign twice as hard if Brexit was to initiate a second independence referendum.

The Cumbrian MP strongly hopes the decision to trigger Article 50 will not spark calls for a further public vote.

It has been reported that government officials fear Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish First Minister, will use the start of the Brexit process to demand another referendum, arguing that Scottish voters rejected Brexit and should not be forced to leave the European Union.

But Mr Stewart - who was a prominent campaigner for Scotland to stay in the UK ahead of the 2014 public vote - believes a second Scottish independence referendum would be a mistake.

"You can't have these never ending referendums, where every time you don't like the answer you come back and ask again. I feel intuitively and emotionally that it should be another generation's decision (about whether it happens again)," he said.

The Penrith and the Border MP said he feels even more strongly than he did in 2014 that Scotland should be part of the United Kingdom.

"Scotland and the UK are better off together. It would be an unnecessary tragedy for everyone to separate them. It would be deeply damaging to go through this kind of messy divorce," he added.

Mr Stewart does not believe there is a strong enough case to support a second independence referendum - claiming the EU is simply a trade area, whereas breaking up the UK would have much wider consequences.

"If it were to happen again I would campaign with double the force because I believe it extremely out of order to ask people the same question twice in four years. You can't do that. If you ask someone's opinion you have to accept what they say. You can't keep going back," he explained.

"With Brexit, I voted remain. But I feel strongly that Britain made a decision and our job is to respect that. If you don't you are causing a really big problem for democracy. You are pretty close to creating a revolution."

Asked whether he think the attitude towards independence has changed in Scotland since the Brexit vote, Mr Stewart said its difficult to say. "Among some people possibly. There are some pro-Europeans who are deeply against it (Brexit) but also others that feel Scotland's economy is facing significant challenges, and would really struggle.

"There will be a lot of people who say 'hold on a minute, we have told you what we wanted and you didn't listen'. If you ask the question twice you could get the same answer, but more strongly."