More than half of Britons would support a tax on financial transactions if part of the money was directed to help people hit by the economic crisis here and abroad, a poll showed Monday.

A YouGov survey for international aid group Oxfam found 53 percent support for the so-called Tobin tax put forward by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a G20 meeting in Scotland earlier this month, with 28 percent opposed.

"This is a rare example of a popular tax. The UK public clearly support action to force banks to clean up their own mess," said Oxfam senior policy advisor Max Lawson.

"It is not fair to expect poor people in Leeds (northern England) or Nairobi to pay the price of mistakes made by bankers in London or New York.

"Why should people die for lack of medicines, or children be forced out of school because of an economic crisis they did nothing to cause?"

Unsurprisingly, a tax on banks was the preferred option to balance Britain's books following a deep recession, with 36 percent backing this measure against 26 percent who opted for cutting public spending.

The poll also revealed widespread disillusionment with the financial sector, blamed for excesses that exacerbated a global downturn, with 64 percent saying their opinion of its contribution to society has declined.

Brown's proposal was shot down by the United States shortly after he resurrected the idea of a Tobin tax at the G20 finance ministers' meeting in St Andrews, although EU partners have been more supportive.

YouGov interviewed 2070 adults online between November 13 and 16.