Members of the Tenby and district branch of Tenovus are launching an appeal for European currency which will become obsolete at the end of this year when the Euro comes into full effect .

Twelve European countries (Austria, Belgium, Eire, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) will commence the cash changeover on January 1, 2002.

With all the changes taking place in European currencies, this means that a lot of notes and coins from the countries involved will become worthless at the end of February next year, so the charity are recommending to holidaymakers that they either spend all of their currency or donate it to the group in time for it to be converted into sterling.

"It would be such a shame if people held onto coins that became totally worthless, instead of giving them to us so that we can raise more funds for cancer research and patient support," said a spokesperson for the charity.

Coins and notes can be dropped into the jar which has been opened at the Tenovus shop in High Street, Tenby.