Rush to hand in paper £20 and £50 notes

THE Post Office is preparing for a ‘last moment’ rush in customers depositing paper £20 and £50 banknotes this week before they can no longer be used.

September 30 is the last day the Bank of England’s paper notes will have legal tender status.

After Friday, only polymer Bank of England banknotes which feature artist JMW Turner and Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing on them will be accepted.

So far this month, over £100million worth of the notes have been deposited at Post Office’s 11,500 branches. Martin Kearsley, Post Office’s banking director, said staff ‘are on hand’ to help those who ‘put off depositing their paper notes until the last moment’.

But the public can still deposit paper notes at their Post Office, or exchange them for new notes at the BoE’s London office, once the deadline has passed.