There is a warning to people with particular £20 or £50 paper notes in the UK that they could face long queues if they try to exchange them. This type of cash becomes redundant on Friday, September 30.
The Bank of England has advised people to remain patient when they try to change them for new polymer notes, which are harder to fake. There is no deadline to swap old notes for new ones, but consumers are still rushing to swap them, Manchester Evening News reports.
The Bank says that long queues are forming and that people could wait for more than an hour if they rush to change the money. The paper notes can be swapped for new polymer ones at the Bank of England, as well as high street banks and some Post Offices.
If you need to get old banknotes swapped on the same day, the Bank of England is your best bet. However, the Bank has warned of long queues to swap these old notes. A Bank of England statement said: "The Bank of England Counter is currently open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday and is experiencing very high demand.
"There will be long queues and you may encounter waiting times in excess of an hour. We would ask that you kindly consider the long wait times when travelling to the Bank to undertake an in person exchange - if you arrive after 2pm it is possible you may not get served before we close.
"Unless you require your banknotes immediately, we would suggest sending your banknotes via the post."
If you go to a Post Office from September 15, you can swap banknotes - but only at certain branches. You can also only swap up to £300 in old banknotes.
The notes which can be exchanged are:
- Elizabeth Fry paper £5 note
- Charles Darwin paper £10 note
- Adam Smith paper £20 note
- Boulton and Watt paper £50 note
Post Office branches that will exchange withdrawn notes:
London
Golders Green Post Office | Greater London | NW11 8RT
High Holborn Post Office | Greater London | WC1V 7RL
Moorgate Post Office | Greater London | EC2M 5TE
The City of London Post Office | Greater London | EC3M 1AJ
Regent Street St. James’s Post Office | Greater London | SW1Y 4LR
Northern Ireland
Belfast City Post Office | County Antrim | BT1 1LT
Londonderry Post Office | County Londonderry | BT48 6AA
Scotland
Edinburgh City Post Office | Midlothian | EH1 1BQ
Glasgow Post Office | Strathclyde | G1 2RD
Inverness Post Office | Inverness-shire | IV1 1AX
North East
Middlesbrough Post Office | North Yorkshire | TS1 2NR
Newcastle Upon Tyne Post Office | Tyne and Wear | NE1 7DE
North West
Carlisle Post Office | Cumbria | CA3 8JY
Manchester Post Office | Greater Manchester | M2 1BB
Breck Road Post Office | Merseyside | L5 6SW
Yorkshire and Humber
Sheffield City Post Office | South Yorkshire | S1 2AX
York Post Office | North Yorkshire | YO1 9QL
The Markets Post Office | West Yorkshire | LS2 7DZ
Midlands
Birmingham Post Office | West Midlands | B2 4AA
Nottingham Post Office | Nottinghamshire | NG1 3QD
East of England
Cambridge City Post Office | Cambridgeshire | CB2 3BZ
Norwich Post Office | Norfolk | NR1 3QP
Wales
Wrexham Post Office | Clwyd | LL11 1BE
Cardiff Post Office | South Glamorgan | CF10 2NX
South West
Bournemouth Post Office | Dorset | BH1 1DY
Bristol Post Office | City Of Bristol | BS1 3XB
Mutley Post Office | Devon | PL4 6LL
South East
Oxford Post Office | Oxfordshire | OX1 1ZZ
Melville Road Post Office | East Sussex | BN3 1UB
Portsmouth Post Office | Hampshire | PO1 1AB
For more information please visit Bank of England website here
