LONDON -- They've been using them in Australia since the 1980s but now plastic bank notes will be in circulation in Scotland.
The Cyldesdale Bank is producing two million of the £5 plastic notes, which are available from Monday and are slightly smaller than existing notes in circulation.
The Bank of England will start replacing its paper notes with plastic next year.
The new notes feature a portrait of Scottish engineer Sir William Arrol, who was responsible for constructing Scottish landmarks including the Forth Bridge, a cantilever structure, located west of Edinburgh.
New £5 Note Enters Circulation | Clyde 1 http://t.co/3PsdBT9cDo pic.twitter.com/zY1asICtFY— Radio Clyde News (@RadioClydeNews) March 23, 2015
In the UK retail banks can print their own notes in addition to the Bank of England. In Scotland three banks can issue banknotes, while in Northern Ireland four banks can.
Plastic notes were used on the Isle of Man between 1983 and 1988 and some were produced in Northern Ireland to commemorate the millennium.