Bank of England warns of massive queues as Brits rush…

Bank of England warns of massive queues as Brits rush to change old paper banknotes

Brits are rushing to swap their old paper banknotes for new plastic ones - with long queues seen at the Bank of England.

Paper £10 and £5 banknotes have already been withdrawn, and cannot be spent in shops.

Paper £20 and £50 notes will be redundant from September 30, under a shake-up to tackle fake money.

These paper notes can be swapped for new polymer ones at the Bank of England, as well as high street banks and some Post Offices.

There is no deadline to swap old notes for new ones, but consumers are still rushing to swap them.

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.