Fears among Americans of a fresh terrorist attack are receding, a public opinion poll released yesterday suggests, although a majority of New Yorkers feel their city remains a prime target.

Thirty-six percent of Americans surveyed by Quinnipiac University’s polling institute were either very worried or somewhat worried that "there will be another terrorist attack on the United States in the next few months."

Ahead of this weekend's 10th anniversary of 9/11, however, 58 percent of New Yorkers believe that another attack on their city resulting in a large number of fatalities is either very likely or somewhat likely.

"Across the nation, fears of another 9/11 have faded a lot,” said Maurice Carroll, director of polling at the private university in Connecticut, recalling a Quinnipiac poll in 2006 in which 62 percent feared another attack.

Last week a Pew Research Centre poll found that one in three Americans thought it was just a matter of luck that their nation has been spared a repeat of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.