Britain's economic recovery is being "killed off" by the crisis in the eurozone, its finance minister George Osborne has said.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Osborne pleaded for a solution to the turmoil in the 17-member eurozone - of which Britain is not a member - to boost the struggling British recovery.

"Our recovery - already facing powerful headwinds from high oil prices and the debt burden left behind by the boom years - is being killed off by the crisis on our doorstep," he wrote.

"A resolution of the eurozone crisis would do more than anything else to give our economy a boost."

The British economy, the seventh largest in the world, slipped back into recession at the end of last year, but Prime Minister David Cameron has stood by tough austerity measures, albeit at a slower pace than before.

As Spain secured a European lifeline of up to 100 billion euros ($125bn) to save its stricken banks, Osborne wrote: "The lesson of the last two years is that treating the latest symptom does not cure the underlying condition."