Here’s why shops have started refusing to accept the ‘indestructible’ new plastic fivers

SHOPS across Britain have started refusing to accept the new polymer £5 notes - because so many have been ruined by customers pushing them to their limits.

The "indestructible" plastic fivers first entered circulation six weeks ago, and it hasn't taken long for shops to find a reason to turn away customers wishing to pay with them.

When the Bank of England released the notes, which are smaller and stronger than their predecessors, there was much hype around the durability of the ultra-tough fivers.

But for all the boasting around the strength of the notes, which have been shifting for thousands of pounds on eBay, people have still found ways to test them to destruction - and are turning up to shops with obliterated fivers as a result.

After it emerged that customers are trying to pay with these ruined notes, some retailers warned that they couldn't accept the mangled tender.

The notes, which can survive a washing machine cycle, are being bitten, torn, ironed, tumble dried, rubbed out and drenched in alcohol as people test claims that they are impossible to destroy.

And this has left shops with no choice but to turn away customers trying to pay with severely damaged currency.

Newsagent Amit Patel told the Sun Online: “I’ve already refused to accept one after a customer came in to make a purchase with a new five pound note.

"I noticed the top left hand corner was missing. It didn't look like someone had cut it with scissors or torn it like with the old notes - it looked as though someone had bitten or chewed it.

"Another customer told me he’d spent 10 minutes dipping a note in red wine just to see if it would stain."

The South-London newsagent, who owns Belvedere News, Food and Wine, added: "Lots of my customers see the ‘indestructible’ label as a challenge and are really taking that to the extreme.”

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney claimed the notes were "cleaner, stronger and safer" than the paper notes they were replacing.

But, just like the under-pressure Governor's fear-mongering predictions about Brexit, his claims about the durability of the notes don't stand up to scrutiny.

It emerged this week that the Queen's face on the new note can be rubbed out by a pencil eraser, as a Bank of England official was forced to say: "We don’t want people to think of the new £5 note as a plaything.”

The supposedly invincible note also has another weakness, after it was revealed that tumble dryers can shrink the note to a comically tiny size.

And others have been flogging notes with misprints or unique serial numbers online for thousands - and you could cash in on the craze too.