More than 120,000 people have signed a parliamentary petition calling on the UK Government to block a second Scottish independence referendum.

The petition will now go forward to a parliamentary committee to decide if it should be debated in the House of Commons.

The UK Government must also now respond to the petition within 21 days .

Despite being open for signatures from across the UK, the vast majority of those signing are Scottish residents.

The petition states: "Another Scottish independence referendum should not be allowed to happen.

"We in Scotland are fed up of persecution by the SNP leader who is solely intent on getting independence at any cost. As a result, Scotland is suffering hugely."

A spokesman for the House of Commons says the petitions committee will generally approve of a debate unless "the subject has recently been debated or is likely to be debated in the near future" or if "the subject is unsuitable for debate in parliament".

He told STV News: "The committee will consider all petitions that have received 100,000 signatures by Friday afternoon at its subsequent meeting. The committee meets on Tuesday afternoons.

"The government responds to all e-petitions that reach 10,000 signatures. It should respond to all petitions that have reached this threshold within 21-days."

Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells said: "The fact so many signatures have been gathered in a couple of days demonstrates the strength of feeling on this matter.

"Scots don't want separation, and they don't want to be dragged back into a bitter and divisive referendum campaign by the SNP."

An SNP spokesman said: "Today's Times poll shows that a majority of Scots believe Theresa May should agree to a referendum.

"The Scottish Government has a cast-iron democratic mandate to hold a referendum and won last year's election on an explicit manifesto commitment spelling out the exact circumstances we now face.

"It would be a democratic outrage, and totally unsustainable for the Tories to stand in the way - and based on the principle agreed in 2012, there should be no strings attached, no blocking mechanisms applied and no Downing Street diktat. Scotland's referendum must be made in Scotland."