Britain would be better off if it had joined the euro, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson claimed today just as the single currency teeters on the brink.

As finance ministers battle to stop Greece crashing out of the euro, Sir Richard claimed British exports to the continent would be stronger if we had ditched the pound.

He warned leaving the European Union would be 'catastrophic' but ruled out taking a lead role in the forthcoming referendum on Britain's membership.

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As finance ministers battle to stop Greece crashing out of the euro, Sir Richard Branson claimed British exports to the continent would be stronger if we had ditched the pound

Sir Richard, the founder of Virgin Group said that Britons should be 'proud' of being Europeans and remaining a member of the EU meant 'talking from a position of strength'.

Asked if he was pleased Britain was staying out of the euro, he told BBC One's Andrew Marr:

'Not particularly, I think that if we were part of the euro right now our currency would be a lot cheaper, Great Britain would be doing that much better in trading in Europe because the pound is a lot stronger than the euro, it makes it more difficult for us.'

He added: 'I'm very happy just to say why we should be proud of being Europeans.

'Each European country is trying to improve Europe, that's much better to do from within Europe than from without.'

It comes as banks in Greece may not be able to open tomorrow as the eurozone crisis reaches a dramatic tipping point which could see it forced out of the single currency.

The Greek parliament today agreed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's surprise plan to hold a referendum on July 5 on the bailout plan.

But it emerged that the European Central Bank will end emergency lending to Greek banks as early as today, forcing the country to hold an emergency bank holiday tomorrow.

It raises the prospect of thousands of British tourists being stranded without any money as cash machines run out of money.

David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU before staging an in-out referendum by the end of 2017

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David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's membership of the EU before staging an in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

It emerged last week that the Prime Minitser has told other EU leaders his 'firm aim' is to keep Britain in the EU.

Sir Richard has been tipped as a frontman for the Yes campaign, as one of the most high profile pro-European businessman in the UK.

He told BBC One's Andrew Marr: 'I doubt I'll be taking a lead role. I mean all I can do is do the occasional interview.

'I'm not going to be on a soap box. I've avoided politics and I'm not going to start now.

'But, I'm very happy just to say why we should be proud of being Europeans and, I mean, each European country is trying to improve Europe, that's much better to do from within Europe than from without.'

The adventurer and philanthropist went on: 'The wonderful situation we have at the moment where there's this enormous trading bloc, you can treat it just as if it's the UK.

'Trade anywhere within Europe and so how anybody would want to go back to the days where all these barriers were put up, I just find it inconceivable.'

Sir Richard argued that 'the whole of the EU administration put together has no more people than the number of people that run a city like Birmingham'.

Britain, he said, had a trading bloc equivalent to the size of the US and was on an 'equal footing' when negotiating trade or airline deals.

He said: 'We're talking from a position of strength. If we go back to being Great Britain again we will have our hands tied behind our back.'

Asked about the proposal to remove some benefits such as tax credits from people from other parts of the EU to prevent higher immigration into the UK, he said: 'If they need to tinker with one or two of these things in order to make sure that we don't end up doing something more catastrophic like leaving Europe, that's fine by me.

'I think there are much bigger issues that I'm concerned about.'

Sir Richard argued: 'We're the first generation that haven't been to war in Europe and this to me is even more important, by being part of a big trading bloc.