Won't anyone take my euros?

Despite the city's bid to become European City of Culture, shops, restaurants and businesses throw up their hands in horror.

"It's too much hassle," shopkeepers cry. "We don't take them yet - but we will soon ... probably."

At Lloyds Bank in North Street, Brighton, they were easy enough to obtain. At an exchange rate of 1.565, 75 euros cost £47.92.

My first port of call, like thousands of visitors to Brighton, was the Royal Pavilion. I tried to pay my £5.20 entrance fee with 8.47 euros but was told: "Sorry, we don't take them.

"It's difficult enough with all the languages and different credit cards without having to worry about the euro too."

Next stop, the newly-refurbished Dome, home to the Brighton Festival and boasting a line-up of international stars.

"Are there any tickets left for Stomp?" I asked.

"Certainly."

"Can I pay with euros?"

"Er, euros? Not sure. Does anyone know if we take euros?" The assistant returned to tell me they could not accept them.

I asked at the Theatre Royal: "Two tickets for A Woman Of No Importance please - and I'd like to pay with euros."

"Sorry, we don't take them."

On the seafront, I spot the open-topped sightseeing bus.

Guide Sheila Ash tells me: "If it was up to me I'd take them but I'm not allowed."

Dejected and hungry, I head for the Palace Pier, epicentre of the city's tourist trade. Surely here they will take my euros?

The smell of the fish and chip cafe is reeling me in. I ask the waiter: "I just want to check if I can pay with euros."

He pulls an anguished face and says: "I'd like to say yes but no, I'm afraid not."

How about a souvenir stick of rock from the pier's Rock Shop? Owner John Haslem says: "I don't have a till that calculates euros for me and I'm not going to go to the expense of a new till until I know for sure."

In East Street I pass the tempting display in the window of Philippe de France. The blue doormat has a picture of a euro on it. 1 euro = 1.655937, it announces to visitors.

Oh la la! In this little French corner of England they must take them. I confidently order a drink and an apple pastry. "I can pay in euros can't I?" I ask. The assistant's face falls. "Mais non. Je suis desol, madame."

However, I later get a call from owner Philippe Demier, who tells me the answer should have been oui, they DO take euros.

I head for Seaside News in The Lanes - a bar of chocolate will do now. The shelves are filled with European newspapers. "Can I use euros to pay for my chocolate?" I ask hopefully.

Matthew Johnstone behind the counter checks with the boss and tells me: "No, but I wish we did. We seem to be rooted in history when we should be moving forward."

The Fiddler's Elbow in Boyces Street is a pub that revels in its Irishness and the Irish have embraced the euro.

Alas, the barman, in his Guinness T-shirt, tells me apologetically: "I've got no problem with euros but the pub isn't set up to take them."

I give up on sustenance and decided to try my luck in the shops.

Gap, which displays its labels in sterling and euros, declines them. The story is the same at Oasis.

How about Ann Summers? Again, no. The Body Shop? "Nope, sorry," I'm told.

At Waterstones you can't buy a book on euros with the currency.

How about the big High Street names? Boots? No. WH Smith? No. Marks & Spencer? No. Although at customer services they will change them for sterling.

My feet are killing me. I ask a cabbie: "Can I pay in euros?"

"Certainly not. They're foreign."

"No, they're legal tender."

"Well, whatever they are, I don't want any, thank you."

The driver of a 5B bus tells me: "If it's not English money or a bus pass, I can't take it."

Back in The Lanes I see it - a euro sign in the window of Bramble & Co, a gift shop in Brighton Square.

Partner Kerry Kyriacou says: "Yes, we accept euros. I'll show you my euro till."

He produces a crumpled packet of Silk Cut cigarettes and a calculator.

"We keep the euro coins in the packet - we don't get much call for them but I think things will change in the summer."

Things are getting better. At Donatello restaurant there's a euro sign on the door and in seconds I'm at a table being waited on by Lorenzo Melis, the assistant manager.

Can I buy my copy of The Argus with euros at Bharat's newsagents in East Street?

"No problem," says owner Bharat Amin. He taps 32p into the till. It converts it into 54 cents.

One of the few businesses that has taken euros since January is Burger King in North Street but assistant manager Nicolo Costa says they take fewer than 15 euros a day.

Brighton and Hove City Council said some hotels and language schools already accepted the euro. Others were preparing to accept it.