A SUFFOLK pub got a-head of the rest and made history by selling its first half-pint in Euros.Publican Patrick Wroe of the Half Moon Pub in Walton showed true "one nation" spirit by putting signs up outside the pub welcoming the new currency.

A SUFFOLK pub got a-head of the rest and made history by selling its first half-pint in Euros.

Publican Patrick Wroe of the Half Moon Pub in Walton showed true "one nation" spirit by putting signs up outside the pub welcoming the new currency.

They caught the eye of a regular who had just come back from Ireland and popped in for a half-pint of Adnams bitter using left-over change.

Patrick, 55, who has run the pub for three years, was delighted with the sale: "We have signs up saying: "Are we the only pub in Suffolk to happily and cheerfully accept Euros? We may well be.

"Walton has the reputation of being a bit backwater and we are proving that we are well into the 21st century."

Acceptance of the Euro has already been a talking point at the bar with customers enjoying the novelty.

But the dual currency is expected to prove most popular in the summer when punters return home from their holidays.

"It is all a bit of fun," said Patrick. "Our pub is certainly the first in Felixstowe and I would like to think that we are the first pub in Suffolk to accept Euros. Arguably we are the first in country to accept the currency for a half-pint of beer.

He added staff adjusted well to the change.

Esther Pozzani, 29, of Mill Lane, Trimley, sold the half-pint. "Patrick had signs up saying we now accept Euros," she said.

"When I saw them I found the idea funny has I did not believe that anybody would use them.

"When one of our regulars came in and handed me the money in Euros I was overly excited."

However, to any punters expecting Euros back – the pub only gives change in sterling.