Thames Valley Community Messaging
main site menu

Thames Valley Police are urging residents to be on the look out for fake £20 notes in Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire. Police have recently received reports of poor quality counterfeit notes being used in these areas.

Recent examples include a man trying to pay for low value items in Waitrose, Caversham with a fake £20 note on 25 January; in John Lewis, Reading on 2 February; and at Sainsbury's in Newbury town centre on 16 February. On each occasion the man was challenged and left the store.

Sgt Stewart Codling, who is co-ordinating the investigation, said: "We believe that there have been 10 offences in this series so far.

"We are particularly keen to make bars and cafes aware of these notes as the offender tends to order something small, like half a pint, and then try to distract the staff with small talk while paying for it with one of these notes.

"I would ask that anyone who comes into contact with these notes keeps them and puts them in an envelope to preserve fingerprints and phone police."

The offender is believed to be black, around 40-50 years old and medium build. He is believed to be driving an old style Vauxhall Astra, which is either green or blue.

Crime Reduction Adviser John McNicholas says that the best way of telling a genuine £20 note from a fake one is by the feel of the paper. He said: "The distinctive texture of the paper is the giveaway clue. These notes also have a water mark which has a distorted image of the queen's face. They do have a silver line and a number, but the paper is slightly poorer quality than with the genuine article and bizarrely, some of the notes have identical serial numbers."

Anyone who encounters one of these fake notes should contact police via 08458 505 505.

Alternatively, if you do not want to speak to police or leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

This email has been sent with your approval as part of the Thames Valley Police Community Messaging scheme.