BRITAIN'S economy sped up between April and June on the back of stronger spending by consumers and businesses and giving a boost to the government less than two years before an election.

It came at the same time as a raft of United Kingdom company earnings reports showing growth picking up.

Gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, in line with forecasts of economists, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

That was double the pace of growth in the first three months of the year but the economy still remains smaller than before the 2008-09 recession, suggesting to some economists that it still needs nurturing by the Bank of England.

The numbers were a boost for Finance Minister George Osborne, who has fended off calls from the International Monetary Fund and the opposition Labor Party to spend more to speed up growth.

"Britain is holding its nerve, we are sticking to our plan, and the British economy is on the mend - but there is still a long way to go and I know things are still tough for families," Osborne said in a statement.

Signs of a pickup in the British economy have coincided with a narrowing of Labor's lead over the Conservatives in some opinion polls.

The recovery also comes as other countries in Europe are struggling to show any growth at all.

Compared with a year earlier, Britain's economy expanded 1.4 percent, faster than 0.3 percent in the first quarter. It was the fastest increase since early 2011 although it was boosted by an extra working day in the April-June period this year.

Sterling weakened after the data and British government bond prices pared losses as some investors had been betting on stronger growth which would have reduced further the chance of the Bank of England pumping more money into the economy.

It was the first time all sectors of the economy - agriculture, production, construction and services - grew since the third quarter of 2010.

The Bank of England's new governor, Mark Carney, may see the data as a sign that the economy is edging closer to what he has termed "escape velocity" or sustainable growth, though he is still likely to judge it needs extra help to get there.

From next month, Carney is widely expected to start providing detailed guidance on how long interest rates will remain low, in an effort to encourage consumers to spend and businesses to borrow and invest.

Britain's economy remains 3.3 percent smaller than in the first quarter of 2008 which was its peak before the financial crisis plunged the country into recession, tempering the good news about the growth in the second quarter.