MP notes changes to fiver
EAST Runcorn MP Graham Evans joined the Chief Cashier and members of the Bank Of England team in Parliament to learn more about the latest incarnation of the five-pound note before it is issued on September 13.
Mr Evans tried out its security features and find out how businesses and the public can prepare for its introduction.
The Bank Of England £5 note features former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and will be made of a thin flexible plastic.
A spokesman for Mr Evans said this means the note is cleaner, safer, stronger and harder to counterfeit.
He said it will also remain in much better condition for longer with a life expectancy of at least two-and-a-half times the paper version.
The plastic fiver will begin making its way into cash machines and shop tills from September 13, with paper £5 notes no longer legal tender from May 2017.
A polymer £10 note featuring the novelist Jane Austen will be issued in summer 2017 and a polymer £20 note featuring the artist Joseph Turner will enter circulation by 2020.
These will include a tactile feature to help vision impaired people distinguish between denominations.
A Bank Of England spokesman said: “The Bank Of England periodically replaces notes to introduce the latest new security features and stay ahead of counterfeiters.
“It also means that we can feature new characters.
“We have decided that our next £5, £10 and £20 notes will be printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic, because polymer notes last longer, stay cleaner and are harder to counterfeit than paper notes – 87% of people who commented in our 2013 consultation supported the idea.”
Mr Evans, Conservative, is the MP for Weaver Vale encompassing much of east Runcorn, Daresbury and Frodsham.