A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Warminster earlier this week on suspicion of using counterfeit currency.

On Wednesday (February 5), the police received a number of reports of incidents in Salisbury city centre and Warminster that a man had entered several retail shops and purchased or attempted to purchase goods using counterfeit £50 notes.

Officers in Warminster did a search of the town centre and found a male matching the description by store owners.

Inspector Gill Hughes said: “This was excellent work by the officers involved in locating an individual and making an arrest swiftly. I’d also like to thank the local businesses who reported information to us which enabled us to take action – I hope this shows how important it is to report concerns regarding activity of this nature as we will always do all that we can to identify those responsible.

“This kind of activity can really impact on businesses – in particular, small independent businesses within our communities.

“With incidents of this nature, there are a number of longer term enquiries which need to be conducted alongside partner agencies and these will be completed as soon as possible.”

The 17-year-old was taken to Melksham custody for further questioning and has since been released under investigation while further enquiries are ongoing.

Information and advice for businesses on how to check banknotes can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/