Just under a third of business leaders, politicians, academics and journalists polled by YouGov for the Chatham House thinktank said Britain should abandon its nuclear deterrent after it expires in 2024. This is higher than a fifth of ordinary voters polled by YouGov who want to scrap it.

The replacement of Britain's submarine-launched missile system is expected to cost at least 20 billion pounds ($29.96 billion), a sum critics say is unthinkable at a time of public spending cuts that Prime Minister David Cameron has warned will change the country's "whole way of life."

Most government departments have been told to prepare for cuts of around 25 percent to help reduce a record peacetime budget deficit and all large state projects are under scrutiny.

Defense Secretary Liam Fox said last week the government was committed to replacing its Trident nuclear weapons, although it has ordered a review to make sure it offers value for money.

A fifth of those questioned said they backed a straight replacement.

However, more than four in 10 wanted a cheaper nuclear option, possibly an airborne weapon or a new deterrent carried by fewer submarines. Britain currently has four submarines capable of carrying the Trident missiles.

These Vanguard class submarines are likely to start leaving service in the early 2020s and the government estimates it will take about 17 years to design and build their replacement.

The ruling Conservative Party has long supported a new submarine-launched system, while their junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, wants a cheaper alternative.

The two parties agreed to push ahead with renewing the nuclear weapons, although the Lib Dems will be allowed to continue to make the case for finding another option.

The coalition said in May that Britain would for the first time set a 225-warhead limit on its nuclear stockpile. That coincided with a treaty agreed by the United States and Russia to cut their nuclear arsenals by a third.

YouGov also polled 2,500 ordinary voters and found that 29 percent wanted a like-for-like replacement, 30 percent favored a cheaper system and 20 percent opted to scrap nuclear weapons.