UK leads European shares higher as Scots snub independence

LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - European shares surged higher early on Friday, buoyed by gains on the UK stock market which rose after Scotland's decision to vote "No" to independence from the United Kingdom.

Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose by 0.7 percent, with Scottish-based stocks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and utility SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) among the top-performers, rising by 3.2-3.3 percent respectively.

The FTSE, which had underperformed going into the Scottish vote this week, beat a 0.5 percent rise on Germany's DAX and on France's CAC.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up by 0.8 percent at 1,409.36 points.

"There's a bit of a relief rally, now that the Scottish vote is over," said Toby Campbell-Gray, head of trading at Tavira Securities.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Blaise Robinson)