The Bank of England has asked banks to stop issuing its new £5 notes after discovering serial numbers on the currency could be rubbed off.

It said it had received around "half a dozen" calls from members of the public at the end of last week relating to serial numbers on the notes coming off.

Tests conducted by the Bank of England subsequently revealed that, on some of the new banknotes, it was possible to remove both of the serial numbers if the note was rubbed hard.

The Bank said: "As a precautionary measure, we have asked the banks and the Post Office to suspend further issuance of the new £5 note.

"We are carrying out further tests and investigative work into what might have caused the fault and how widespread the problem is." - (Ananova.com)