More than half of the German public is in favour of prolonging the lifespans of the country’s remaining nuclear reactors as the government struggles to end its reliance on Russian gas and oil, according to a poll.

Over the past decade Germany has shut down all but three of its commercial nuclear power plants, which are due to be switched off by the end of the year despite still generating about 13% of the state’s electricity between them.

The nuclear phaseout, first announced in the late 1990s and then confirmed by Angela Merkel in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, had been overwhelmingly popular.