The world of business is deeply split over whether to adopt the euro, even though a growing number of firms are dealing in the single currency.

Some shops, pubs, petrol stations and train companies in Britain already accept the new currency.

Staying out of the euro is costing up to 3,500 jobs a month as inward investors increasingly concentrate on the eurozone and firms delay expansion plans, it is argued.

Euro exclusion is costing homeowners an average of £50 a month extra on their mortgages, while consumers are facing "rip-off" prices in the shops because Britain has not joined the euro club, according to claims.

The pro-euro Britain in Europe group says 3.5 million British jobs depend on Europe, while sharing the same currency as our European neighbours will lead to more trading gains.

But the anti-euro camp argues big business is split while smaller firms are opposed to the euro.

Two thirds of Britain's three million businesses are anti-euro, according to the campaign group Business for Sterling.

"We can stay in the European Union and keep the pound and keep trading with Europe and the rest of the world just as we are," said one official.

The group argues that joining the euro could damage trade by destabilising the economy and creating a volatile exchange rate.

Executives in leading car firms, including Nissan and Ford, have warned of the consequences for jobs and investment of staying outside the euro.

But General Motors announced investment last month worth £80 million for the Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port, making it clear that the euro was not the deciding factor in deciding whether to build cars in the UK.

The UK is the fourth largest economy in the world so it not too small to "go it alone", supporters of the pound believe.

Tuesday June 10, 2003