A EURO MP has challenged a pub chain to table an open debate on whether Britain should join the single currency.

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies has written to Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon plc, asking if he would be interested in displaying promotional material explaining the benefits from joining the Euro.

The move follows the Wetherspoon's decision to distribute half a million anti-Euro beer mats, 10,000 Save The Pound posters, car stickers and postcards to Tony Blair.

North West MEP Mr Davies says the £40,000 campaign is too one-sided and fails to tell the whole truth. He said: "The Wetherspoon beer mats point to low unemployment in Britain but fail to mention that the rate of job creation within the euro zone has been much higher than in the UK.

"I am sure that a large proportion of Wetherspoon customers must be either Labour or Liberal Democrat supporters who would appreciate a genuine attempt to generate an open and well informed debate on this important issue."

A spokesperson for the pub chain - which has outlets throughout East Lancashire - said: "This reaction proves that the beer mats have been a success.

"There has been a lot of coverage about the Euro from the government and although people say that politics and pubs don't mix this has prompted people to talk and make their own minds up."