As a poll published today shows that less than half of Britons know how much a euro is worth, SALLY FLETCHER asked people on the streets of York whether they could do better

AS THE euro debate rumbles on, the people of York said today they neither know nor care about the currency.

We took to the streets to find out what you thought, after a poll published today said that almost half of all Britons have no idea how much a euro is really worth.

Only one in five of the 2,000 people surveyed correctly stated the euro's value in relation to the pound, according to the poll by FX Currency Services.

Here in York there seems to be a lack of interest in the new currency.

"I don't have a clue how much it is worth," said Donna Trotter, 18, of Holgate. "I used it last year when I went on holiday, and I thought it was a lot, but now I haven't the slightest."

Vera King, 73, of Bishophill, said: "I have never given it a thought, but I expect it is very expensive. Nobody knows how much it will cost, do they?"

Paul Duffield, 69, of Spen Lane, said: "I knew last year when I used it - but now I really couldn't tell you. We don't need it anyway, especially if we are having home rule for Yorkshire."

David Levett, 39, of Gillygate, said: "This is the whole problem with the euro - nobody knows what's happening. No one knows how much it will be, we only know what Blair and Brown tell us.

"There is just no flow of information, they do things in our name, but refuse to tell us anything about it."

Only one person we asked actually knew the value of the euro.

"I do get it confused with the dollar, but it's about 1.4 isn't it?" said Douglas Field, 28, of Low Petergate. "I think it does confuse a lot of people."

Donald Mackenzie, managing director of FX Currency Services, said: "Our study also brings into question the real value of a potential referendum on whether the UK should change from pounds to euros because if the very people making the decision do not understand the implications of the question, then the vote could be damaging."

Updated: 14:57 Wednesday, February 19, 2003