SHADOW Foreign Secretary Francis Maude took to the streets of Selby to enlist support for the Tories' battle to save the pound.

Mr Maude, accompanied by Conservative candidate Michael Mitchell and more than 30 party activists, held aloft a giant fake pound coin in the shadow of Selby Abbey.

After firing up the party faithful, he walked through Gowthorpe chatting to potential voters living in the marginal constituency.

Mr Maude, who was making a whistle-stop tour of seats in Yorkshire, said he was confident that Mr Mitchell could prise the seat from Labour candidate John Grogan.

He said: "People feel very let down by the Labour Government on a number of issues like health and crime. There's a very strong sense of betrayal that I'm picking up here in Selby."

Mr Maude said keeping the pound was vital to Britain's future prosperity. He told the Evening Press: "We believe we can still be in Europe and keep the pound. We can thrive with our own economy."

Updated: 16:52 Thursday, May 31, 2001