There was no fooling Helen Bashford, 40, who owns Delivery Chemist in Ramshill Road. She said: "That's a fake. You can tell because of the paper quality and the printing isn't as good. But if you are in a rush you might not have time to check properly."

Pharmacy supervisor Jenny Swalwell, 31, said: "For me, you can tell straight away by the texture and the thickness of the paper, but if it was flat down on the checkout it would be pretty hard to tell."

Dispensing assistant Jo Fawcus, 38, also had little trouble distinguishing which note was which. She said: "It's that one. Can I destroy it? It feels different."

Woodheads shop assistant Brigit Hodgson, 36, used a marker pen that changes colour on a forgery. She added: "It's a good forgery though."

Paul Harrison, 36, who runs The Fruit Box greengrocers, instantly pointed to the fake. "You can tell by the code number," he said. "I knew because the forgeries have a code beginning with 'B' on the back. It's a good one though."

Graham Stevenson, 34, assistant manager of the Ramshill Road branch of The Local, said: "That would be the real one. The fake note doesn't have the proper line all the way through. "It's fine when you've got a real one to compare it to. But imagine if it's busy and you don't have anything to check it with."

Sam Tomkins, 22, of Crown Terrace, who works as a customer advisor at Woodend Creative Workspace, said: "That one feels well dodgy. It looks faded and like it's not on the right paper. It feels too thin and floppy." Yorkshire Coast College student

William Messruther, 23, of Oriel Crescent, admitted he could have easily been fooled. He said: "I could tell because the hologram is not quite as sharp on the fake note, but I think it might have caught me out. It's quite worrying how easily it could be done."

How to spot a fake

• Real notes are printed on a fine cotton weave which has a very different feel from ordinary paper.


• Genuine notes have the watermark in the paper. Counterfeiters will print the watermark onto the paper. Hold the note up to the light to check the watermark.


• Genuine notes will have a high quality hologram.


• Real notes have individual serial numbers.


• Under close examination, the detail of fake notes will look messy.

You can see the reaction in the video, you will need Windows Media Player 9 (or higher) and a broadband connection.