The Deputy First Minister has continued to insist there will be a currency union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom if there is a Yes vote in the referendum.

Nicola Sturgeon was speaking as the row over whether a separate Scotland would be able to strike a deal to continue using the pound rages on.

Tory Chancellor George Osborne and his Labour and Liberal Democrat counterparts have already ruled out entering into a formal currency union with an independent Scotland.

But the Yes campaign seized on comments at the weekend in which an anonymous UK minister said ''of course'' there would be a decision to share the pound if voters north of the border decide to leave the UK.

"Saying no to a currency union is obviously a vital part of the No campaign. But everything would change in the negotiations if there were a Yes vote," the unnamed politician told The Guardian.

Ms Sturgeon said today that the "shambles" from the UK Government on the issue would have a "long and lasting" impact on the campaign to keep Scotland in the UK.

Mr Osborne and the Liberal Democrat Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander rejected the anonymous minister's claims, and continue to insist independence for Scotland would mean ''walking out of the UK pound''.

A Downing Street spokesman also sought to limit the impact of the remarks at the weekend, stating: ''There will not be a currency union in the event of independence."

But Ms Sturgeon claimed: "The legacy of Westminster's unintended outburst of honesty on sharing the pound with an independent Scotland is that no-one will believe a word the No campaign say about anything anymore.

"The legacy of this shambles for the No campaign will be long and lasting - we now know that what they say in public is just campaign talk to try to stop the people of Scotland voting Yes. As the UK Government minister said: 'everything would change' once we achieve a Yes vote."

She continued: "What has become apparent over the past 72 hours is that not even the No campaign believe their own absurd charges. They are just things dreamed up and said by the self-styled 'project fear' to try to stop an independent Scotland. But they know - as we know - that they aren't true.

"The bluff and bluster by the Westminster establishment on currency isn't true either - the pound is Scotland's currency every bit as much as the rest of the UK's, and a currency union is in the interests of both, which is why it will happen.

"What the No campaign say in public and what they know to be the case in private are two completely different things - the reason they are furious with this UK Government minister is because he or she had the temerity to tell the truth about the pound.

"That is the conclusion of this particular issue - and it will give even more people the confidence to put Scotland's future in Scotland's hands by voting Yes in September."