Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer in 24.

More people in Britain believe torture can be justified than in Russia – partly thanks to popular TV shows such as 24, Homeland and Spooks, human rights campaigners have said.

Nearly one in three people – or 29 per cent – in the UK thinks torture is sometimes necessary and acceptable to protect the public, compared to 25 per cent in Russia, according to a poll conducted by Amnesty International.

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, said: “These findings are alarming, we really didn’t foresee this sort of response from people in the UK and it shows we have got a lot of work to do.

“It looks from these results like we have placed panic over principle. People have bought into the idea that their personal safety can be enhanced in some way through the use of torture. That is simply untrue.

“Programmes like 24, Homeland and Spooks have glorified torture to a generation – but there’s a massive difference between a dramatic depiction by screenwriters, and its real-life use by government agents in torture chambers.

“We decided as a society, a long time ago, that torture is simply wrong and can never be justified in any circumstances. That is one of the moral pillars on which our culture is based.

“That belief is borne out by the other results we have published, which show that people here insist on the need for clear standards and rules to prevent torture and the confidence they report in the knowledge that they won’t personally be victims of torture.

“Everyone around the world should be able to enjoy that same assurance.”