Britain's FTSE eases as commodities stocks weigh

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* FTSE 100 down 0.2 pct

* Miners, oil firms track commodities prices lower

* Whitbread rises after results

* Circassia Pharmaceuticals rebounds

By Kit Rees

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - UK shares slipped on Tuesday asa fall in mining stocks overshadowed two opinion polls whichpointed to the campaign for Britain to remain in the EuropeanUnion regaining its lead in the run-up to Thursday's referendum.

The blue chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent at6,189.30 points by 0828 GMT, having closed sharply higher onMonday.

Two opinion polls on Monday suggested support for Britainstaying in the European Union had recovered some ground, thougha third poll found support for a "Brexit" slightly ahead.

"(The) market's got a little bit stretched in one directionin the fear trade and yesterday was it snapping back inimpressive form, but still we don't have the result so how farcan you really take it when there's still a distinct risk thatwe end up leaving the European Union?" Jasper Lawler, marketanalyst at CMC Markets, said.

Mining stocks weighed on the FTSE 100, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore all down between 1.3 percent to2.7 percent, tracking the price of copper lower.

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell alsoretreated 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent respectively as the priceof oil fell for the first time in three days.

Shares in housebuilder Berkeley Group fell 1.8percent after Canaccord Genuity cut its price target on thestock.

Among the gainers, however, hospitality Group Whitbread was the top riser, jumping 3.4 percent on the back of awell-received update which showed solid figures from its CostaCoffee outlets.

"Costa Coffee continues to provide the main stimulus behindWhitbread's sales growth," Russ Mould, AJ Bell investmentdirector, said.

Outside of the blue chips, Circassia Pharmaceuticals rebounded 9.6 percent after slumping in the previoussession.

Neil Woodford, the second-biggest shareholder in Circassiawith almost 20 percent, said on Monday after the market closedthat he backed the board of Circassia Pharmaceuticals followingthe failure of its cat allergy treatment.

Engingeering company Senior plunged over 13 percentafter warning of lower revenue in the second half of this yearat its Flexonics unit due to tough market conditions in theheavy truck and oil and gas sectors. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Alison Williams)