David Cameron plans to hold a referendum on the country's membership of the European Union in June next year, it has been claimed.

The Prime Minister has promised to re-negotiate the terms of Britain's membership of the 28-member block before holding a referendum by the end of 2017.

An anonymous source has claimed the vote will be held in June 2016, although a spokesman for Mr Cameron's Downing Street office declined to comment.

A source told the Independent on Sunday that David Cameron is planning to hold the referendum in June 2016

Citing an anonymous source, the Independent on Sunday said it had learned that 'Mr Cameron has decided to pencil in June of next year'.

The paper reported that the Prime Minister would announce the timing of the referendum during the Conservative party's annual conference in October.

A comment from the Conservative party was not immediately available.

It comes just days after US President Barack Obama urged Britain to stay in the European Union, cautioning during a BBC interview that remaining in the bloc was necessary to help preserve the nation's global influence.

It also came as Finance Minister George Osborne began a trip to Paris to seek support for reforms to the EU.

The report comes just days after US President Barack Obama urged Britain to stay in the European Union

The Conservative government has said it will campaign in favour of remaining in the EU, but is pushing for changes on the ability of EU citizens to claim welfare in Britain, increased powers for London and the ability to opt out of closer political integration.

'The referendum here in Britain is an opportunity to make the case for reform across the EU,' Osborne is to say, according to pre-released excerpts of his speech.

'I want to see a new settlement for Europe: one that makes it a more competitive and dynamic continent to ensure it delivers prosperity and security for all of the people within it, not just for those in Britain.'

Recent turmoil in Greece that raised the possibility of the country exiting the eurozone influenced the decision to hold an earlier vote, which would stop Britain's referendum becoming a political issue in French and German elections in 2017, the Independent on Sunday reported.