Elizabeth Fry was known as the Angel of the Prisons

The Bank of England said it would include a portrait of the campaigner and a picture "appropriate to her achievements".

The new notes, to be introduced next summer, will share the style and improved security features of the new �10 note, first circulated in November 2000, and a �20 note released in June 1999.

It will be the same size and colour as the existing �5 note and will feature the same portrait of the Queen on the front.

The old and new notes will initially circulate together, while the George Stephenson design is slowly withdrawn.

Penal reform

Commenting on the decision to honour Fry a Bank of England spokesman told BBC News Online: "We started putting eminent British people on the notes from 1970.

"The person chosen must have made an indisputable contribution to their particular field and Elizabeth Fry was a notable philanthropist."

Banknote faces

Old �5 note - George Stephenson New �5 note - Elizabeth Fry Old �10 note - Charles Dickens New �10 note - Charles Darwin �20 note - Sir Edward Elgar �50 note - Sir John Houblon, first Bank of England governor

Fry, who lived from 1780 to 1845, made her name fighting for improved living conditions for women in European jails.

She campaigned for penal reform and in the early 19th century became known as the Angel of the Prisons.

After making her name as a protester, she went on to advise MPs, before lending her expertise to the prison authorities of Britain and mainland Europe.

Fry's statue is in London's Central Criminal Court and Elizabeth Fry societies exist across the world.