The British government has promised new powers for Scotland after Scottish voters elected to stay within the UK.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the new powers he, his deputy and leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg, and the Labour leader Ed Miliband had promised the Scottish people in the dying days of the referendum campaign would be "honoured in full."

Cameron was speaking outside No. 10 after Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond accepted defeat following the vote against independence in a historic referendum.

While Salmond has called on Westminster to keep the promise of more devolution of power to Scotland, he also asked for unity after the referendum.

"Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course," Salmond warned Cameron.  

Cameron added that a "vote against independence was clearly not a vote against change and we must now deliver on time and in full the radical package of newly devolved powers to Scotland."

Scottish voters rejected independence by 55% (2,001,926 votes) to 45% (1,617,989 votes).

Voter turnout hit a record of 86%.

Clegg hailed the no vote as a "momentous decision to safeguard our family of nations for future generations."

After the results were announced, the British pound hit a two-year high against the Euro and a two-week high against the US dollar.

The FTSE 100 is also forecast to rebound by more than 100 points.