POLICE are urging shopkeepers to be extra vigilant after a number of counterfeit notes were found in circulation in the Suffolk coastal area.Three incidents were reported to police on July 7, all involving two men.

POLICE are urging shopkeepers to be extra vigilant after a number of counterfeit notes were found in circulation in the Suffolk coastal area.

Three incidents were reported to police on July 7, all involving two men.

In Wickham Market at about 3.15pm, two men went in to a shop and asked to buy cigarettes, handing over a Scottish £20 note to pay for them. The shop staff became suspicious and asked the men to wait but they left the premises.

At some time between noon and 5pm that afternoon two counterfeit £20 notes were handed over to shops in Woodbridge.

Between 3pm and 6pm a shop in Melton was targeted. Two men handed over a £20 note each when buying a drink.

It was later found the notes were forged.

The men involved in this incident are both white - one was very short and of slim build, with short hair, the other was of average height and stocky build, with short hair and a round pock-marked face.

Police are urging all staff taking money from the public to be alert to these incidents and to check notes - particularly £20 notes.

Anyone with information about these incidents should call Woodbridge Police on 01473 613500.

Has your shop been targeted by people using counterfeit money? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk