NEW research into the scale of public concern should be a "wake-up" to the political class about Brexit, a charity claims.

A survey by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) found seven in ten people are worried about how the change will affect them.

Almost one third said they were "very concerned", with similar levels say they were "somewhat" or "a little" concerned.

The total citing fears equates to more than 70 per cent, with just 26 per cent saying they had no concerns and another four per cent answering "don't know".

At 65 per cent, the cost of food and essentials was the biggest cause for unease, with human rights cited by almost half of respondents.

The cost of energy bills was also a major cause of worry, as was the impact on the NHS, finances and the rights of consumers.

Revealing the results yesterday, Rory Mair, chair of CAS, said: "Hopefully this research will provide a much-needed wake-up call to our political class about the extent of the concerns Scots have about the impact of Brexit.

“Whether they voted remain or leave, and regardless of their party loyalties, people across Scotland are clearly very uneasy about the effects of leaving the EU."

The claim is based on responses from a representative sample of more than 2000 people.

All were asked about their feelings on the year ahead, with regards to the impact of the political change.

Almost half cited the cost of travel and holidays as a key issue.

Women were more likely than men to mention the health services and the cost of food. The latter was also a top concern for those on low incomes, while holiday and travel prices was noted by those with higher incomes.

Younger respondents were more likely to list fears about finding a job and non-working groups were most worried about human rights.

Participants gave their answers in March and the data was weighted to ensure the sample was representative of the Scottish population by both age and gender.

The news comes as Britain approaches the second anniversary of the Leave result.

Despite the passage of time, the lack of clarity over these key areas is fuelling worry across Leave and Remain camps, CAS suggested.

Meanwhile, there is less than one year left to deliver the answers before the expected exit date on March 29 2019.

And political parties have yet to reach consensus on a range of matters at Westminster and in devolved parliaments.

Mair commented: “While our politicians squabble over the constitutional nuances, families have budgets to manage, businesses have decisions to make, and workers want to know what rights they will have.

“What people want is clarity.

"They want our leaders to get beyond the predictable point-scoring and instead start making meaningful decisions.

"In short, they want some leadership and direction.

"It is time for our politicians to step up and conduct this debate in a way which finally addresses that fact.”