COUNTERFEIT BANK NOTES | This week, counterfeit £50 Royal Bank of Scotland notes have been used in our area. The offenders have made small value purchases at stores, paying with the forged notes and then receiving legitimate change in return. Officers are investigating and will be working to identify the source of the fraudulent cash. We would urge traders and shoppers to be vigilant and where possible traders should ultraviolet light scanners to check the authenticity of notes.

What to do if you receive counterfeit currency

• If the notes have been passed and the suspect is not present, this should be reported online at https://orlo.uk/hUI3I or by calling 101.

• If the suspect is present at the location or still nearby, consideration should be given to calling 999.

• Counterfeit notes should be retained and provided to the police as evidence, ideally inside a plastic wallet or paper envelope to preserve potential fingerprints.

• If there is CCTV footage of the suspect available, this should be downloaded and provided to the police together with the counterfeit currency.