Scots are being urged to spend or exchange any paper £20 and £50 banknotes before they are removed from circulation at the end of this month. 

In less than four weeks, shops and businesses will no longer be required to accept the paper notes.

While the notes could be refused from October 1, the public will still be able to exchange them at their bank branch or at The Post Office.

Work has been underway since 2015 to replace paper Scottish notes with polymer, which is stronger and lasts longer. 

Scottish polymer notes now account for around 90 per cent of £20 notes and just about half of the £50 banknotes in circulation. 

The Committee of Scottish Bankers (CSCB) announced the deadline on behalf of the Scottish note-issuing banks: Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale and Bank of Scotland.

A spokesperson added: "Thanks to the work that the issuing banks have already undertaken to swap the older paper notes with the more secure, environmentally friendly polymer notes, the majority of £20 and £50 notes have already been replaced with polymer.

“We have set a deadline for using paper £20 and £50 notes as September 30. The Scottish note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper based notes and there are currently no plans to change this.”

The £20 and £50 paper notes are the latest to be removed from circulation after the £5 and £10 notes were removed on March 2, 2018. 

The Bank of England will also withdraw its £20 and £50 paper notes after September 30.