A North-East MP is urging Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown to "bite the euro bullet" and press on with a timetable for early British entry to the single currency.

Middlesbrough MP Stuart Bell claims it would have major economic benefits for the economy, jobs and home-owners in the North-East in a 50-page booklet Pathway to the Euro published today.

In it, Mr Bell argues that the economic tests set by the Chancellor have already been met, and urges him and the Prime Minister to overrule over-cautious Treasury advisors and mandarins.

He told The Northern Echo that his "gut feeling" was a prediction that both Mr Blair and Mr Brown would have the courage to push ahead. "They are dedicated to this country and will make the right decisions," added the MP.

Mr Bell says the assessment of the Treasury's five economic tests should be completed by the end of January next year, followed by a referendum on joining the euro on May 1. If given the go-ahead by voters, Britain should enter the single currency by May 2005, with euro notes and coins introduced on January 1, 2006.

He believes that non-membership of the euro is already damaging the North-East economy. "The Governor of the Bank of England is already on record as saying that unemployment in the North-East is the price that is paid for house price inflation in the South-East," said Mr Bell.

The single currency would be good for Teesside, with its port facing out towards continental Europe. "It would also be good for manufacturing since interest rates would fall - thus adding to competitiveness."