The street names commemorate bygone battles fought by British troops: Agincourt Lane, Tobruk Lane, Waterloo Road and Crimea Road. A Union Jack flutters outside the police station and there are roadside bins for pooper-scooped dog droppings – an innovation alien to the rest of Cyprus.

Welcome to Dhekelia, a British sovereign military base that strives to be a corner of a foreign field that is forever England. Only the turquoise Mediterranean lapping at Dhekelia’s shore, the blue sky and palm trees prevent this colonial footprint from being a mirror image of Aldershot.

But a big change is imminent that will put Dhekelia and the UK’s second sovereign base area (SBA) at Akrotiri-Episkopi decidedly out of kilter with Britain. These swaths of prized strategic military estate will become the first part of British sovereign territory to adopt the euro when Cyprus, with Malta, switches to the common currency on January 1.

The SBAs, unlike Britain itself, are not part of the European Union. But these military outposts, retained by Britain when Cyprus became independent in 1960, have a policy of harmonising their laws as far as possible with those of the Republic of Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004.

This makes life easier for the 4,000 British forces, their 7,000 dependants in Cyprus and 8,000 Cypriots, many of them farmers, who live on the bases. The SBAs cover 98 sq miles (254 sq km), an area a quarter the size of Hong Kong. About 40 per cent is Ministry of Defence, or Crown, land. The rest is privately owned by Cypriots.

Two thousand miles from home, defenders of the realm and their spouses appeared resigned to surrendering to the common currency as they shopped this week in a supermarket in Dhekelia. They had conversion charts and have digested information packs on the euro supplied by the military and local shops and banks.

“The euro is easy to use,” said Caroline Tully, 35, a mother of three from Gillingham, Kent, whose husband is with 62 (Cyprus) Support Squadron Royal Engineers. She said it would make life easier if all European countries, including Britain, had the same currency: “Especially for the Forces, because we’re always moving around.”

Many of the British Forces in Cyprus are already acquainted with the euro from postings to Germany. They are also accustomed to performing swift mental conversions, having worked with sterling and the stronger Cyprus pound. And in preparation for the new year switchover, prices of all goods and services on and off the SBAs have been set in Cyprus pounds and euros since September.

A concern of some British shoppers, shared by most Cypriots, is that stores will round up prices when the euro comes in. “Some people are worried about marking up. But I’m trusting. I like to think no one will rip me off,” said Miriam Swift, 33, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, who works as a supply teacher on Dhekelia and is married to a member of 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

Shoppers have been assured by the SBA authorities and the Cyprus Government that fears of price rises are unfounded and that profiteers will be fined.

To reassure its customers, Ermes Department Stores, a local public company that operates the supermarkets and convenience shops on the SBAs in partnership with Sodexho (Cyprus) Ltd, has introduced a policy of rounding down prices.

So, if the euro is so practical and easy to use, as Mrs Tully and Ms Swift suggest, will British Forces and their dependants become crusaders for adopting it when they return home? No, insisted almost all approached by The Times.

“At home, I’d still like sterling. I’m patriotic,” Ms Swift said. Three members of 62 (Cyprus) Support Squadron Royal Engineers, one sporting an England football shirt, agreed. Sterling was a “British institution”, they declared. Most want to see the British monarch’s head on their currency. In reality, eurozone entry would not prevent this, at least on coins. Each has a face bearing images of national identity, while the obverse has a common design featuring a map of Europe.

However, the designs of the seven euro banknotes are the same throughout the eurozone. This means that unless the rest of the bloc’s members are prepared to make an unlikely exception for Britain, the Queen’s image will not grace euro banknotes even if Britain adopts the currency.

Daniel Goddard, 24, who is stationed with the Fusiliers in Dhekelia, was adamant. “I don’t really like the euro. I want sterling to stay. It’s British and it’s individual. I’m used to it and I’m old-fashioned,” he said. “It’s got the Queen’s head – and she’s my boss.”

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