LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney denied on Sunday that he had compromised the central bank's independence by warning of the short-run costs of leaving the European Union, after criticism from "Out" campaigners.

Last week the BoE said Britain risked slower growth, higher inflation and recession if voters backed leaving the EU in a referendum on June 23, prompting criticism that the BoE was biased and itself destabilising markets.

Carney, in a BBC television interview on Sunday, said he had "absolutely not" overstepped the mark and that he would be failing the British public if he did not flag risks in advance.

(Reporting by David Milliken and Kylie MacLellan; editing by John Stonestreet)