A vote on EU membership could trigger a second Scottish referendum on independence, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Ms Sturgeon said any disagreement between Scotland and the rest of the UK over EU membership would increase pressure for another vote on independence.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show she responded to a question about what could trigger a second Scottish referendum.

She said: "The example I have used is if there was an in/out referendum, and clearly with a majority Tory government that must be on the horizon, and Scotland voted to stay in the EU and the rest of the UK voted to come out, I think there would be significant opinion in Scotland that we had to re-look at the issue of independence."

But she added: "But I actually want to have an arrangement to stop that happening."

Ms Sturgeon insisted the SNP is not "changing its tune" on independence despite securing all but three of Scotland's Westminster constituencies.

The SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister said that her promise during the campaign that the vote was not about independence still stood.

She spoke after former first minister Alex Salmond said he believed independence would "absolutely" happen in his lifetime.

Asked how close Scotland was to independence after the result, Mr Salmond said: "Scotland has seen a number of days that many people thought we would never see.

"People thought there would never be a Scottish parliament; then some people thought there would never be an SNP government, some people thought there would never be a majority SNP government.

"So this is the latest staging post in what seems like progress for Scottish people."

Independence

Responding to the remarks, Ms Sturgeon said: "What Alex said, and I don't think it's a particularly controversial statement, is that he thinks Scotland will become an independent country.

"I think Scotland will become an independent country one day. He said he thinks it will be in his lifetime, I hope that's the case."

Ms Sturgeon denied that the General Election had moved the country closer to that result or that her that the party was "changing its tune".

She said: "There's no disagreement between Alex and I on this, this general election campaign was not about independence.

"I said that repeatedly, I said it consistently and I said expressly to people in Scotland that if they voted SNP, and half of the Scottish population did, I would not take that as an endorsement of independence.

"I stick to that position. I'm a great believer in what you say before an election should be what you say after. Many people who voted 'no' for independence in the referendum, who would vote 'no' if the referendum was tomorrow, voted SNP on Thursday.

"I've got a responsibility to make sure that we represent all of them but also that we represent those who didn't vote for us and seek to win their trust.

"As First Minister, as leader of the SNP, I've got a responsibility to try to unite Scotland and I'm determined that I do that."