Multi-millionaire businessman Mr Paul Sykes said yesterday that he had urged Sir James Goldsmith to withdraw Referendum Party candidates from seats in which Tory contenders have publicly opposed a single European currency.

But Mr Sykes, who is paying the election expenses of Conservatives opposed to a single currency, said he did not know if the billionaire entrepreneur would do so.

''I can't read Sir James' mind. It's entirely up to him,'' he told the BBC.

Mr Sykes sparked the revolt against John Major's ''wait and see'' policy on the single currency by offering to finance Eurosceptic backbenchers. He said the withdrawal of Referendum Party candidates ''would be ... the right effect that we would both want'' otherwise Tory marginals could fall to ''the other two federal parties, and we will fast track into a federal Europe''.

He praised Sir James for initiating the widespread opposition to the single currency, saying: ''He's done a fantastic job in waking this nation up.''