Cannot enter # in REPL on Macbook Pro w. UK keyboard

On a Macbook Pro with UK keyboard, the '#' key is Alt+3 (or should I say, Option+3)

In the Python edtior REPL I can paste a '#' from somewhere else but I cannot type it. @microbit-giles confirms this is also true on his Macbook.

I also cannot type '£' which is shift+3