Fears raised over durability of new £5 note after photos of shrunken fivers shared online

The new polymer £5 note featuring Sir Winston Churchill
Joe Giddens - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Hatty Collier4 October 2016

Fears have been raised over the durability of the new £5 note after photos of shrivelled fivers apparently exposed to intense heat emerged online.

The polymer material £5 note is claimed to be “cleaner, safer and stronger” and last five years longer than paper notes.

But a photo of a shrunken note was first shared online by Merv Thomas, who is said to have accidentally melted it on his burger van.

He wrote: “So the new fiva [sic] is to replace the old ones that would rip easily and fall apart, don’t leave the new ones in a hot place the f****** melt as me and Emily Jayne Tucker just found out.”

Others shared the picture claiming it was as a result of a spin in the tumble dryer.

The picture was also circulated by comedian and presenter Ryan Swain, who said: “Don’t leave a new fiver in your jeans pocket and tumble dry them. Can you still spend this?”

Another Twitter user named Fi also shared the photo and wrote: “Don’t put the new fiver in the tumble dryer… #handytip.”

Rapper JME, who appears to literally have money to burn, has been performing experiments on the notes and uploading the results to Twitter.

The images have been shared thousands of times but many people are suspicious that the pictures are faked.

After official tests on the notes back in 2013, the bank did note that the material was susceptible to high temperatures.

“We are aware that polymer banknotes begin to shrink and melt at temperatures above 120C, so they can be damaged by an iron.”

The Bank of England has declined to comment on the images of the banknotes on social media but pointed out that the new plastic currency is more durable – not indestructible.

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