Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta's creaky coalition has survived a confidence vote after rogue ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi U-turned and gave his support.

Mr Berlusconi has been outraged by a vote planned for Friday which could strip him of his senate seat following his tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence.

Last week he pushed five ministers from his People of Freedom party to resign from the coalition. The U-turn is a setback and embarassment for Mr Berlusconi.

Despite publicly accepting their fate the ex-ministers privately rejected the manoeuvre and expressed support for the coalition.

In brief remarks before the confidence vote yesterday, Mr Berlusconi said: "Italy needs a government that can produce structural and institutional reforms that the country needs to modernise.

"We have decided, not without internal strife, to vote in confidence."

People of Freedom has for months been embroiled in conflict over support for Mr Letta's coalition, which intensified after Mr Berlusconi's conviction.

The two sides were in flux right up until the vote. Dissenting senator Roberto Formigoni said beforehand that some 25 Berlusconi allies had signed on to support Mr Letta and Mr Berlusconi was thus forced into a humiliating climb-down which will further damage his waning credibility.

In a speech to the senate Mr Letta hailed his five-month-old government's successes and outlined his agenda to revive Italy's economy and turn around its record unemployment.

He warned MPs that Italy "runs a risk, a fatal risk" depending on the choices they make.

"Give us your confidence to realise our objectives," Mr Letta said to applause.

"A confidence vote isn't against anyone, but for Italy and Italians."

People of Freedom has been badly divided since Italy's high court upheld Mr Berlusconi's conviction in August. Last week he announced he would revive his defunct former party Forward Italy, using the People of Freedom name as an umbrella, in partnership with dissenters.