Fake money in the form of £20 notes are exchanging hands in the town, with a Main Street store alerting police after it found a number of the convincing copies in its tills.

Now top cops are asking residents to be wary and look out for the tell tale signs of a forged note in an effort to crack down on the potentially lucrative trade in counterfeit cash.

Community Inspector Alan Dickson told the Barrhead News that your first port of call should be your local bank, if ever someone is in doubt over the authenticity of money.

He said: “A bank branch will be able to tell straight away if money id authentic or not.

“These days it is potentially very difficult to spot a forgery as printing techniques become more advanced and reliable.

“However if you take the money to a bank, staff there can use different techniques to check the authenticity of the note or coin.

“There is a whole host of tell tale signs, but we would ask people to be vigilant after this recent find and to make sure that if they do have concerns about their money they challenge it on the spot when they receive it.” Counterfeit notes are more common than counterfeit coins due to their ease of production and lower cost.

And Inspector Dickson admits that with photocopying techniques and technologies becoming ever more advanced it is becoming more and more difficult to spot a forgery.

He said: “Even with some high end photocopiers it is becoming difficult to immediately tell the difference.” The Committee of Scottish Bankers has published recommendations for checking your cash and familiarising yourself with all the security features of the genuine article.

The committee recommended: “Although the incidence of counterfeiting is relatively low there are still some counterfeit bank notes in circulation and amongst the best ways to avoid being caught out are to familiarise yourself with the security features of genuine notes and make sure you take sufficient time to check banknotes thoroughly when you receive them. “This is particularly true in situations where you receive large volumes of notes.

“If you have any doubt, compare the suspect note with another note that you know to be genuine.” Counterfeit notes often lack security features such as metallic strips running through the notes, holograms, markings that can only be seen under ultraviolet light and can also appear much more papery or cardboard-like than the real thing.

The committee continued: “Remember to examine a number of features rather than relying on the existence of just one feature when deciding whether or not a note is genuine.”