NISSAN turned up the heat on Tony Blair last night when it repeated warnings that the new Micra could be built abroad if Britain doesn't join the euro.

Worldwide president Carlos Ghosn said that the strength of sterling was undermining the case for a new Micra to be manufactured at Nissan's Sunderland plant.

Speaking at the Paris Motor Show, he reiterated that Wearside was failing to compete with its European counterparts, even though it remained the continent's most efficient plant.

"It takes less time to make a car in Sunderland than in any other car plant," he said.

"We want to continue to be able to produce and compete effectively in the UK but at the moment we cannot do that."

The comments, coming less than 24 hours after the Danes voted not to join the Euro, will increase the pressure on Tony Blair to announce an early entry to the single currency.

Denmark's snub left Europe shaken but not visibly stirred. EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels rallied round to talk up the euro and insisted it remained a powerful world class currency.

And the head of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenburg, pointed out that the only loser was Danish economic growth and prosperity.

But behind the scenes eurocrats were assessing the psychological damage caused to the EU's continuing drive towards an ever closer union.

The 53 per cent No vote was seen as a rebuff, not just to the single currency, but also to the pace of political and economic integration.

It also sent a signal from Copenhagen that British Euro-sceptics are not alone in fearing a further erosion of national sovereignty.

But Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the Danish result would make no difference to the UK's plans to go ahead with its own referendum on the single currency after the next General Election.