A majority of the public want the law changed to allow doctors to help terminally ill patients to die if they wish, according to a survey.

Four out of five people now support voluntary euthanasia, which would allow hundreds of thousands of patients with incurable and painful illnesses to die at a time of their choosing, the 2007 British Social Attitudes survey found.

It is illegal for a doctor actively to assist anyone who wants to die. Only in exceptional circumstances can a court rule that feeding should cease.

Tony Bland made legal history in 1993 when his family won a court case to have his feeding tube removed. Mr Bland had been in a persistent vegetative state since the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster.

In 2002 Diane Pretty, who suffered from motor neuron disease, lost her right-to-die legal battle when the European Court ruled that she was not entitled to an assisted death.

The Government has said that it has an open mind and is watching the debate.

While there is strong support for doctors helping terminally patients to die, the research uncovered conflicting views about assisted death under other circumstances. Only 45 per cent of those questioned supported intervention if the patient was not certain to die of the disease. It also found that a majority opposed a relative becoming involved in death.

“The current law that prohibits assisted dying is at odds with public opinion,” Elizabeth Clery, one of the report’s authors, said. “Most people accept that a doctor should be allowed to end the life of someone who is painfully and terminally ill.”

Among its other findings the annual survey — the result of 3,000 interviews conducted by the National Centre for Social Research — concludes that there is broad public support for new anti-terrorism measures, such as control orders. The public was happy to relinquish its right to privacy and freedom in the hope of beating terrorism.

Opposition to compulsory identity cards has plummeted over the past 15 years, with 22 per cent of people now opposing the move, compared with almost 50 per cent in 1990.

The survey also suggests that the British are just as class conscious as ever, with little evidence of social mobility since the 1960s. About 37 per cent consider themselves middle class, compared with 30 per cent in 1964. The authors said that their interviews revealed that people still believed that class was bestowed on them at birth, rather than being formed through education and work.

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