Money to be your flexible friend as Bank of England pushes for plastic notes

The Bank of England is preparing to scrap “tatty” paper bank notes ending 319 years of history.

Five and 10 pound notes made out of a flexible “polymer” plastic material would last more than twice as long, be cheaper to make and be much harder to counterfeit, it said.

The polymer notes would be slightly smaller.

The Bank, which first started issuing notes when it was founded in 1694, said initial discussions with the financial and retail industries about the switch have been “positive”.

A two-month consultation will now start before a final decision is taken. Deputy governor Charles Bean, said: “The Bank would print notes on polymer only if we were persuaded that the public would continue to have confidence in our notes.” Canada, where new Bank Governor Mark Carney was central banker, released its first polymer banknote in 2011.