When do the paper £5 notes stop being legal tender?

Shoppers are being urged to use any paper five pound notes before they stop being legal tender.

The notes will stop being legal tender on May 5. Picture: Contributed

From May 5, shops and businesses will stop accepting the paper banknote, featuring Elizabeth Fry on the reverse, as payment, and will instead only accept the new polymer version.

The banknote, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, will be the only Bank of England £5 note to hold legal tender status.

The Bank of England revealed last month that more than 50 per cent of the paper notes have been returned, with around 160 million remaining in circulation.

The reverse of the note features English prison reformer, social reformer and philanthropist Elizabeth Fry. Picture: Contributed

Shops have been instructed to stop handing out paper notes in change, but anyone who comes into possession of an old note can ask for it to be swapped.

Banks and building societies may still accept paper notes after May 5, but this will be at their own discretion.

The Bank of England will continue to exchange the old notes as it does with any other bank note no longer in circulation.

People can present notes for exchange in person, or by post - at the sender’s risk - by sending them to Dept NEX, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH.