Labour's plans to increase education spending have found favour among voters in the south west, according to recent research.

A new survey of more than 8,000 people nationwide found 46.7 per cent of respondents in the region agreed with the proposal to boost school budgets by £6bn a year.

That was the most support for any major pledge by any of the major parties heading into the 2017 general election.

The proposed school spending spree even found strong levels of support among people planning to vote for other parties.

Some 65.3 per cent of people who planed to vote Liberal Democrat and 33.7 per cent of would-be Conservative voters agree with the Labour policy.

Other Labour policies popular among people in the south west included a promise to freeze hospital closures, backed by 41.4 per cent, and raising income tax on people earning more than £80,000 a year, supported by 40.8 per cent.

The Conservatives' most popular pledge was their promise to recruit 10,000 extra mental health workers.

That was supported by 45.8 per cent of respondents in the south west.

Caps on energy prices, a policy borrowed from Labour, which was popular with 34.6 per cent, and ruling out VAT rises which gained the approval of 28.8 per cent, were the next most popular things promised by the Tories.

The Liberal Democrats' most popular promise was extra education spending while for the Green party it was scrapping tuition fees.

Across the region, the survey shows Conservatives and Labour almost level pegging, with both parties supported by around a quarter of the electorate, while the Liberal Democrats trail in third with just over 10 per cent.

The study, run in partnership with Google Surveys, was completed online by  more than 8,000 people across the regions of England.