LONDON : The British government will unveil a pre-election budget on March 24, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday, fuelling expectations of a general election in May.

Brown added that Britain's economic recovery "remains very fragile" and warned of "bumps in the road" ahead.

But in a personal appeal to voters, he said he would "not let them down" in steering the economy to safety, contrasting himself with Conservative leader David Cameron, whose party threatens to oust Labour at the poll.

The budget will be held "in two weeks' time", Brown said, while the Treasury confirmed the date was March 24.

Ministers have suggested the general election will be held on May 6 and this could be confirmed in the days after the budget, leading into a campaign lasting five weeks or a month.

The economy is expected to dominate electioneering.

The Conservatives had long held a double-digit lead in opinion polls but Labour has clawed back ground since data in January showed Britain emerged from recession, promising a close fight.

"We are at a turning point and a crossroads, for our domestic economic recovery... and for the global economic governance that will shape the next decades," Brown said in a keynote speech in London.

"For better or for worse, with me what you see is what you get. The stakes are high. We dare not risk the recovery."

"There will be bumps in the road," he said. "And I believe the only way to overcome them is by displaying the same strength and resolve as we did during the crisis. And I will not let you down."

Cameron's main opposition Conservatives are four points ahead of Brown's Labour, according to the Sun newspaper's latest daily opinion poll Wednesday.

The Conservatives have 36 percent support, down three, with Labour on 32 percent, down two, and the centre-left Liberal Democrats on 20 percent, up four percent.

The YouGov poll questioned 1,524 people on March 8 and 9.

Experts say they need a bigger lead than that to secure an overall majority in the House of Commons, raising the prospect of a rare hung parliament in Britain for the first time since 1974.

Brown also tried to contrast himself with the 43-year-old Cameron, who has never held ministerial office and who Brown accuses of lacking experience, saying that questions of "policy" and "character" were closely linked.

"I believe that character is not about telling people what they want to hear but about telling them what they need to know," he said.

"It is about having the courage to set out your mission and the courage to take the tough decisions and stick to them without being blown off-course, even when the going is difficult.

Britain emerged from recession in the fourth quarter of last year with growth of 0.3 percent. The expansion in October to December 2009 followed a deep recession that lasted six quarters -- the country's longest since records began.

The country also has a budget deficit forecast to be 178 billion pounds (196 billion euros, 266 billion US dollars) for the current fiscal year.

- AFP/ir