JUST over half of the country expects the UK to have joined the euro in five years time, according to new research.

People living in the South- East are most confident the pound will be phased out, with 61 per cent expecting the UK to join the euro, followed by 60 per cent of people in Scotland and 57 per cent of those in the North-West, according to Girobank, the commercial banking arm of Alliance and Leicester.

However, only 48 per cent of people in the North-East and 49 per cent of people in Yorkshire expect the UK to have joined the single currency by then.