Most UK adults believe in miracles, according to a survey for the BBC – though they are not as convinced of the reality of Jesus' miracles.

The ComRes survey conduced for BBC Local Radio found nearly three in five UK adults (62 per cent) believe miracles are possible. Nearly three-quarters of 18-24-year-olds believe, the largest proportion of any age group.

Forty-three per cent of adults say they have prayed for a miracle, though only 37 per cent of Christians have done so.

Nearly half (46 per cent) say they do not believe Jesus performed miracles in any form, while 37 per cent say they believe Jesus made miraculous things happen but that the Bible stories contain some things that should not be taken literally. Eleven per cent say the miracles of Jesus happened exactly as they are narrated in the Bible.

More than half (51 per cent) of those who attend church at least weekly believe miracles like those performed by Jesus still occur today.

Miracles are regarded as breaches of what would normally be expected from the workings of the laws of nature, ascribed by believers to divine intervention.

ComRes surveyed 2,002 British adults by telephone between August 16 and 26.