As the general election campaign reaches its third week, parties have offered their policies proposing how they would shape the future of Britain.

In a survey on the most popular policies so far, the public is split over Labour and Conservative pledges not to raise the three main taxes but remain opposed to lowering the voting age to 16.

However, the three most popular policies so far have been proposed by the Liberal Democrats and the idea at the top of the list may surprise you.

According to a YouGov poll, almost nine in ten (87 per cent) of those surveyed support Blue Flag protection for rivers.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey advocating for the extension of the prestigious "blue flag status"

Only two per cent of respondents opposed the Lib Dem's pledge to award Blue Flag status to some rivers, giving them protection from sewage discharges.

Support for this policy was high across the political divide, with 89 to 91 per cent of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem voters in approval.

Blue Flags are internationally recognised awards given to beaches in the UK which meet high-quality water standards.

Making rivers eligible for this status would signify to the public which ones are safe to swim in.

Sunak's pensions pledge has proved popular with the British public (73 per cent)

The policy came after it was revealed that record numbers of sewage had been dumped into Britain's rivers in the past year, making them rife with disease and other health threats.

Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats said last month: "Our precious rivers and coastlines have been destroyed after years of a Conservative government letting water firms get away with environmental vandalism.

“It is time we got tough on polluting and profiteering water firms. Conservative MPs have stood by while swimmers have become ill and wildlife killed by sewage discharges."

The second most popular policy was cutting VAT on children's toothbrushes and toothpaste (83 per cent) followed by Free School means for primary school children in England (74 per cent).

The poll surveyed over 2000 British adults about their opinions on policies that have been announced so far

The data also shows the Conservative idea to scrap "Mickey Mouse" degrees with "poor" outcomes got support from almost half (49 per cent) of voters while 29 per cent opposed it.

Whereas, the Conservatives' pensions pledge has proved more popular with the British public.

Three quarters (73 per cent) have backed the plan to raise the amount of income pensioners can receive before having to pay income tax in line with the annual increase in state pension.

This pledge was most popular with those aged over 65 (92 per cent) while only half (51 per cent) of those aged 18 to 24 supported the idea.

The views for this data were given through an online survey of over 2000 British adults last month.