THE Bank of England has revealed the advanced security features that should make its new £5 note almost impossible to counterfeit.

The note, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, is printed on a polymer material manufactured and coated by Innovia Group at Wigton and is due to enter circulation on September 13.

The security features include:

* A see-through window with a portrait of the Queen;

* A foil patch below this window, with wording that changes from 'Five' to 'Pounds' when tilted;

* A 3D coronation crown above the window;

* An ultra-violet feature;

* A circular green foil patch on the back of the note, which contains the word 'BLENHEIM'.

Blenheim Palace, near Oxford, is Churchill's birthplace and was chosen as the location for the Bank of England's governor Mark Carney to unveil the new £5 note last week.

Innovia is the world leader in polymer banknotes, which are cleaner, safer and stronger than their paper equivalents.

Other countries using them include Australia and Canada, where counterfeiting rates plunged by 98 per cent after their introduction in 2011.

By January, more than half of the paper £5 notes will have been replaced with polymer and paper fivers will cease to be legal tender from next May.

Staff who handle cash will be trained to recognise and authenticate the new notes, and some cash handling machines will have to be adapted.

A hand-held device, the Verus, can identify if a bank note has been printed on Innovia’s polymer, which is made by a unique bubble process.

Counterfeiters would have to print their forgeries on Innovia’s Guardian substrate to fool the device.

A polymer £10 note will follow in 2017 and the a £20 note by 2020. Innovia already has the contract for the £10 note and is tendering for the £20 note.