POLICE are hunting two men after ‘high-value’ counterfeit bank notes were used at a Clitheroe business.

Ribble Valley Police warned traders in the town after Clitheroe Decorating Centre in Shaw Bridge Street was targeted three times in a week.

The £20 notes have been used to buy items costing £1 from the shop in order for a lot of legal change to be given in return.

Police said the two men purchased items at the shop on Wednesday and Thursday last week and tried again on Tuesday but were refused service.

One was described as of average build with fair skin and believed to be in his early 20s. The other had dark skin, a moustache and was in his early 20s. Ribble Valley Police issued warnings on Facebook and Twitter as well as informing businesses.

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Craig Kemp, who works at Clitheroe Decorating Centre, said: “I didn’t think anything of it at first. One of the men just came and used a £20 note to buy something small and then another came in and did the same thing.

“They came in next day and I recognised them after I served them and ran out of the shop to try to catch up with them but they had gone.

“They came in again on Tuesday but I refused to serve them.

“This has never happened before in the five years I have worked here.

“We have lost a bit of money because of this but it’s not as bad as it could have been.”

PC Justin Brown, of Clitheroe Police, said: “The Clitheroe Decorating Centre is the only shop that has reported fake notes being used. If any notes are found they should be handed in to the bank.”

n Traders in Blackburn reported the use of counterfeit £50 notes in March, prompting an investigation.