Five times as many fivers from your local cash machine

Millions more £5 notes will be dispensed from cash machines, the Bank of England said today.

The number of notes in circulation will increase five-fold by next April after HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said it would expand the number of ATMs that hand out fivers.

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said: "By Easter next year, the number of £5 notes dispensed from ATMs should have increased
five-fold. The fiver should start looking as smart as the three other denominations."

The Bank has 300 million £5 notes ready to enter circulation.

Retailers including Sainsbury's have pledged to increase the number of £5 notes they give out as change.

The notes feature a picture of Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker who pioneered 19th century reforms to improve prison conditions.