The majority of Britons do not want a second referendum on European Union membership once the government has reached a deal with the bloc, a poll has found.

More than half (57 per cent) rejected calls for a second referendum - an idea backed by Labour leadership candidate Owen Smith - while 29 per cent said they were in favour.

Those surveyed also said by a 46 per cent to 38 per cent margin that Theresa May should continue as Prime Minister without a general election, according to a ComRes poll for The Sunday Mirror and Independent.

Mrs May also enjoyed a commanding lead over her main opponent, Jeremy Corbyn, with more than half (55 per cent) saying she is a strong leader compared to 13 per cent for the Labour leader.

Similarly 48 per cent said Mrs May was good on the world stage compared to just 11 per cent for Mr Corbyn.

The Opposition leader performed better on other aspects of leadership, with two in five (42%) saying he understands ordinary people compared to 31% for Mrs May.

But the new PM still outperforms Mr Corbyn on who is more principled, with 44% saying Mrs May and 43% the Labour leader.

Respondents were more likely to believe that Mrs May would make a better Prime Minister than David Cameron, by 36% to 21%, while more than half (52%) said she would make a good premier in general.

Meanwhile, Labour's crisis was exposed with voters believing both of Mr Corbyn's leadership challengers have a better chance of winning a general election than him.

More than a third (34%) said Mr Smith has a better chance than Mr Corbyn (27%) with a similar figure for Angela Eagle (36% to 32%).

But half (50%) of Labour voters backed Mr Corbyn over Ms Eagle (23%) to win an election, and 44% backed the leader against Mr Smith (26%).

ComRes interviewed 2,097 British adults online between July 13 and 15.