The Bank of England has issued a warning as almost £19bn worth of old banknotes are about to expire.
Paper £20 and £50 notes will not be accepted as legal tender from September 30 under a shake-up to tackle fake money. They have been replaced with new polymer versions, which have been in circulation since 2020 - as Mirror Online reports. The new £20 featuring JMW Turner was released into circulation on February 20 - while the new £50 dedicated to Alan Turing was released on June 23 2021. The Turner £20 and Turing £50 make up the new series of polymer notes with the Winston Churchill £5 and Jane Austen £10.
The paper versions of £5 and £10 banknotes have already been withdrawn. The Bank of England said it will continue to swap old notes for their face value, but households are being warned to use up the 775 million paper notes before the autumn deadline.
