A SECOND parish council in North Yorkshire is to hold a meeting to decide whether to hold a local referendum on the Euro.

And activists admit they are now targeting Tory leader William Hague's constituency in Richmond for a similar ballot.

The tiny village of Beckwithshaw, near Harrogate, which has only 250 parishioners and only a few hundred pounds in the bank, is the latest to face a move to hold a poll on the Euro. The issue has been forced on to their agenda on Monday after six parish electors delivered a signed plea to the parish council.

In Knaresborough the town council could face a bill of up to £4,000 to hold a local referendum on the Euro after residents voted at a public meeting to press ahead with the ballot. Councillors are considering what to axe from their £40,000 budget to pay for the unexpected referendum.

In the Knaresborough poll to be held shortly, but for which a date has yet to be announced, residents will be asked to give a "yes" or "no" to the following question: Do you want your local government to postpone spending any more time or money preparing for the Euro until after a national referendum?

Euro opponents are being urged to force local votes in parishes or towns on the issue by the Campaign Alliance for Referendums in Parishes (CARP).

North East co-ordinator Richard Howard, of Harrogate, said: "We could be blazing a trail across the whole of North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire. It's all about democracy and the question is: do we want to be run by foreign bureaucrats and foreign banks?"

Asked which areas were being targeted Mr Howard would not give details. But Ripon and Richmond are known to be among them.

Ian Galloway, chairman of Beckwithshaw Parish Council, who also represents the area on Harrogate Borough Council, said "We are a very small parish council and only have about £1,000 to our name, but if the referendum went ahead we would have to foot the bill."