Police said a number of forged �20 and �50 notes have been recovered in Market Harborough in recent weeks.

Officers have also handed out information leaflets to retailers on how to check for forged notes.

Police said offenders were targeting smaller retailers because they believed the notes were less likely to be checked by staff.

Kate Daisley, co-ordinator of the Harborough Against Retail Theft scheme, said: "The forged notes we have recovered are really good quality making it impossible to tell just by looking at them if they are genuine or not.