British opposition to the single currency appears to have softened ahead of next month's introduction of euro notes and coins, according to the latest poll evidence.

The latest poll shows that 62 per cent of voters now believe euro membership is inevitable.

The surveys come as anti-euro campaigners claim that the government is attempting to take the UK into the euro "by stealth".

Meanwhile The Times reports that Europe minister, Peter Hain, has suggested that people would be persuaded of the case for the euro if the government recommended it in a referendum.