IT may look the same but it feels completely different.

Our £5 notes are about to change forever - and visitors to a Hampshire theme park were among the first to get the new fiver in their hands.

Families at Paultons Park got the chance to see the first of 400 million five pound notes which will be issued in September. 

Bank of England bosses say the plastic notes will be cleaner, stronger and safer - and more difficult to fake.

Chief cashier Victoria Cleland, who is responsible for issuing the notes and has her signature on each one, was one of the officials at Paultons.

Colleague Sharon Lacey, the Bank of England's quality manager, said that the response from the people of Hampshire had been overwhelmingly positive.

She said: "We have had a great response about the notes from all age groups. It has amazed me how many of the children were interested in the note, everyone seems to be embracing it."

Neil Ackroyed, 39, was visiting the park with his wife and children and said that he liked the design of the new fiver, which is 15 per cent smaller than the current paper version.

He said: "The new bank notes are a good idea, it will make them look a lot neater than the old ones. The only problem is the amount of machines that take the notes. All the machines will have to be reprogrammed which will take a long time."

The new design means that the notes are more difficult to counterfeit and the Bank of England hope to educate the public on how to spot any counterfeit plastic notes.

Shop owners who have a counterfeit checking machine are advised to contact their machine manufacturers to discuss any changes that may be required. 

Sharon added: "The new bank notes are cleaner and less tatty than the paper notes, they last about 2.5 times longer.

"There are currently 360 million notes in circulation and we have printed 400 million plastic £5 notes to replace everything in circulation."

Paper five pound notes will be withdrawn from circulation in May 2017. 

A plastic £10 note will follow in 2017 and a £20 note will be issued before 2020.

A decision will be made in due course on whether to issue a new £50 note and whether to print it in polymer.

Winston Churchill features on the new £5 note and Hampshire author Jane Austen will feature on the new £10 note, providing a link to Hampshire.