Nick Clegg is on course to retain his Commons seat at the British General Election - thanks in large part to Conservatives voting tactically to keep out Labour, a new poll suggested.
A series of surveys have shown the Liberal Democrat leader trailing in Sheffield Hallam and in danger of being booted out by voters in the South Yorkshire seat he has held since 2005.
ICM research for The Guardian suggested Mr Clegg seven points ahead of his Labour rival Oliver Coppard by 42% to 35%.
The poll confirmed its contention that the Deputy Prime Minister performed more strongly in polls where voters were given the names of the candidates.
Without the names being given, Labour was ahead by 34% to 32%.
But the results also suggested Mr Clegg was reliant on tactical voting by Tories on what one ICM pollster called "a breathtaking scale".
A full 48% of those who said they were Conservative backers nationally intended to back him, the figures suggested.
Polling by Lord Ashcroft has previously shown little evidence of active campaigning by the Tories in the seat, which Mr Clegg held with a majority of 15,284 in 2010.
A Lib Dem spokesman said: "The only poll that matters is on Thursday. Nick has always maintained that he was confident but not complacent about the contest.
Martin Boon, of ICM, said: "Some caution is needed because some of the sub-samples involved here are small but this looks like evidence of Tory tactical voting to save Nick Clegg - and on a breathtaking scale."
ICM Unlimited interviewed a random sample of 501 adults by telephone from May 1 to 3 and the results were weighted.
Meanwhile, David Cameron insisted "all the arguments are going our way" as he made a late drive to break the opinion poll deadlock in favour of his Conservative Party with just three days until the General Election.
Addressing a campaign rally in Bath, the Prime Minister urged activists to take his warning of the "massive risk" of putting Labour in charge of the economy to doorsteps in key seats.
"Whether it is the choice on plan, the choice on teams, the choice on leaders, the choice on deficit, the choice on taxes, all the arguments are going our way," he declared, despite all opinion polls suggesting neither main party is on course to secure an overall Commons majority.
"We've got three days left to go to make these arguments and it all comes down to one thing, it all comes down to one idea, and that is about the economy."
"When you are in the voting booth, with that stubby pencil in your hand, ask yourself this question: do I trust Ed Miliband to run the British economy?" he said to cries of "no" from activists.
Mr Cameron spent the day with wife Samantha in seats held by the Liberal Democrats in Somerset as he seeks to topple MPs from his former coalition partner in the bid to retain power.
It came as Tories furiously denied Lib Dem claims the PM had admitted in private to Nick Clegg that the Conservatives would not win an overall majority.
In Wells, Tessa Munt had a majority in 2010 of just 800 and while the Lib Dems held Bath by 11,883 last time around, Don Foster - who has been the MP there since 1992 - is not standing.
Mr Cameron was heckled by a small group of Labour and Green Party protesters at the event at Hayesfield Girls' School.
