Why shops are refusing to accept the new five pound notes

Why dunk a biscuit in your tea when you can dunk a five pound note?

The new five pound notes have been hailed as the strongest yet, but naturally us Brits don't believe anything until we've put it to the test for ourselves. And as a result, some UK shops are refusing to accept the new five pound notes as a result of them being 'too damaged'.

The new bank notes, which are printed on polymer instead of paper, are harder to counterfeit, better for the environment due to being recyclable and last longer than the old five pound note.

But, despite them being in circulation for just six weeks so far, people are already testing the notes' durability by putting them through the wash or testing their ability to withstand stains.

Speaking to The Mirror, newsagent Amit Patel from London said 'I've already refused to accept one after a customer presented it with what appeared to be damage caused by someone chewing one of the corners. Another man told me he'd spent ten minutes dipping a note in red wine to see if it would stain.

'Customers see the "indestructible" label as a challenge' he said.'

The new five pound notes are just the beginning of the roll-out, as the plan is to replace all paper notes with a new polymer version. The new Jane Austen ten pound note will enter circulation next summer, while the new twenty pound note, featuring J.M.W. Turner, is expected by 2020.

Of course, officials aren't too pleased with members of the public testing the limits of the new five pound notes in this way. 'We don't want people to think of the new five pound note as a play thing', a Bank of England spokesperson has said, according to Metro.

Fingers crossed that nobody tries to destroy these new notes...