222 million old £5 and £10 notes STILL out there – how to make them spendable again

How to make old bank notes spendable again

You can exchange all old Bank of England notes directly at the Bank itself, which is in Threadneedle Street in central London. Its counter is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm – you may need to provide two original identity documents (one photo ID and one proof of address) for any exchange.

Queues can be long, so an alternative is to post them and have the money deposited in your bank account. You can send the notes to Department NEX, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London, EC2R 8AH. Full details on what to include can be found on the Bank of England website.

For most, the easiest option is simply to take the old notes to your own local bank branch. Many major banks will allow you to deposit old notes if you are a customer – Bank of Scotland, Halifax, NatWest, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Ulster Bank have confirmed to us this week that they're still accepting old fivers and old tenners.

Alternatively, you could go to your local Post Office. The Post Office allows customers of the following banks to deposit any old notes into their usual high street bank account at their local Post Office branch:

• Allied Irish Bank (GB)
• Bank of Ireland
• Bank of Scotland
• Barclays
• Cahoot
• Cashplus
• Clydesdale Bank
• Co-op Bank
• Danske Bank
• First Direct
• First Trust Bank
• Halifax
• Handelsbanken
• HSBC
• Lloyds Bank
• Metro Bank
• NatWest
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Santander
• Smile
• Think Money
• TSB
• Ulster Bank
• Virgin Money
• Yorkshire Bank