AN emergency town council meeting has been called in Knaresborough on Friday to discuss how it will fund a bill for up to £4,000 for a poll on the euro.

The meeting has been called by councillors after residents voted at a public meeting last week to press ahead with the ballot on whether councils should spend money preparing for the single currency.

Knaresborough Town Council Clerk Alan Benton, whose authority has a budget of £40,000 a year, said councillors were very concerned that what was in effect a parish council would have to foot the bill on a national rather than local issue.

Money may have to be taken from funds for Christmas illuminations.

"The council normally spends money on localised things. We have given grants to village halls, provided money for millennium events and bought additional seating," said Mr Benton, who added that councillors would now have to face the consequences of the decision to hold the poll.

The public meeting was sparked by the Campaign Alliance for Referendums in Parishes, which is determined to demonstrate its opposition to adopting the euro without a national referendum.