On the eve of the Bermuda Independence Commission submitting its report to Government, support for sovereignty is increasing.

But the anti-Independence lobby is still in the majority at 64.2 percent even though the pro camp has increased as previously undecided people start making up their minds.

Autonomy is now favoured by 28 percent in the latest poll ? up from 21.4 percent in November last year before the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC) began public consultation.

However, support for sticking with Britain also rose over that period from 61.4 percent to 64.2 percent, although it is slightly down from a peak of 65.5 percent in May.

Just 7.8 percent are still undecided, down from 17.2 percent in November.

The lengthy BIC report on the pros and cons of Independence is nearly finished and is set to be submitted to the Premier next week.

Breaking down the figures from the Research Innovations telephone poll of 403 people conducted between July 21and 24, it is clear there is a gender gap, with women more likely to favour sticking with the status quo.

And age appears to be a significant factor. Middle aged people are more gun-ho for going it alone with 38.1 percent of those aged 36-54 in favour while among the 18-35s only 17.9 percent want to break the British link while 69 percent are against.

Those figure mirror those aged 55 and over with only 19.4 percent wanting Independence.

Just as the youngest and oldest citizens are more conservative on the issue so are the richest and poorest. The middle income bracket sees 35.8 percent favouring autonomy compared to just 18.4 percent of those with a household income below $50,000 per annum and 23.4 percent of those earning $100,000-plus.

Blacks are more than twice as likely to support Independence as whites, with support jumping nearly ten percent since the last poll two months previously. Now 38.1 percent of blacks are in favour while 51.8 percent are against the idea and ten percent still undecided.

Among whites support for Independence has jumped from 4.6 percent to 17.3 percent while the numbers opposed have fallen from 92.3 percent to 78.4 percent.

Support for deciding the issue by referendum has fallen from 71.8 percent to 53.8 percent while support for doing it via an election has jumped 20 points from 17.7 to 37.7 percent .

The poll has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.