Scotland will vote for independence within the next two years, former First Minister Alex Salmond has said.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Nick Robinson, the ex-SNP leader was questioned on his prediction on Wednesday of a second independence referendum being held in autumn next year.

The Gordon MP said he believes one will take place within the two-year Brexit negotiation period and that Scots would back independence.

Salmond resigned in 2014 after the No campaign won with 55% of the vote, with two million Scots rejecting independence.

The former First Minister said: "What I am saying is if the UK Government rejects Nicola Sturgeon's compromise plan - which would be in everybody's interests just now - for them not to just consider it seriously but to look at it and implement it then I think an independence referendum will be very likely.

"And then, I think, indeed in that context, within that two-year period, then I think the Yes side this time, Nick, would win it."

Earlier in the interview Salmond contested Mr Robinson's summary of opinion polling on independence since the EU referendum.

The ex-SNP leader said he would "introduce some facts into the BBC" and went on to tell Mr Robinson that 15 of the last 16 opinion polls had support for independence higher than what the Yes campaign achieved in 2014, once 'don't knows' were removed from the results.

The pair clashed during the 2014 campaign with Salmond and Yes supporters accusing the journalist of being biased against the independence campaign over his coverage.

Thousands of Yes campaigners staged demonstrations outside BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow.

Salmond backed the protests, saying: "I think there's real public concern in terms of some of the nature and balance of the coverage.

"We must allow people to express a view in a peaceful and joyous fashion, that's part of the democratic aspects of politics."

Mr Robinson expressed "regret" over the row but said nothing he said could "justify 4000 people marching on the BBC's headquarters so that young men and women who are new to journalism have, like they do in Putin's Russia, to fight their way through crowds of protesters, frightened as to how they do their jobs".