THE "delicate" economic recovery will be put at risk unless the Liberal Democrats form part of the next government, Nick Clegg has claimed.

The Deputy Prime Minister warned against a return to single-party rule under Labour or the Conservatives in a speech to business leaders.

He said there was an increasing "chauvinistic, xenophobic stance" on the political right and "anti-business" sentiment on the left.

Speaking at the CBI's annual conference Mr Clegg said the recovery was not as well entrenched as some had claimed and insisted that the Government had to remain anchored in the centre ground after May's general election.

"We are in a very delicate stage of our economic recovery, much more delicate than people sometimes assume. I sometimes hear breathless talk as if we are completely in the clear, job done, we can return to the bad old habits of the past," he said.

"Nothing could be more dangerous.

"You can only spread the prosperity that we want to spread on our society as a whole, if you hold the course.

"I don't think you can hold the course, politically speaking, unless you anchor government in the centre ground and don't lurch left or right.

"You don't lurch to an anti-market, anti-business stance which you see from the left, you don't lurch to a chauvinistic, xenophobic stance which we increasingly see on the right."