More than a quarter of British Muslims feel some sympathy with the motives of the Charlie Hebdo killers, according to a poll.

The survey on behalf of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme found that 27 per cent felt they could sympathise with the motives of the gunmen who shot dead 12 people, including journalists and police officers, at a satirical magazine in Paris on January 7, compared to 62 per cent who could not.

The polling organisation ComRes questioned 1,000 UK Muslims in late January and early February on a range of political, cultural and faith issues.