By Li Hongmei

The Bank of England on Wednesday announced that the next 5-pound and 10-pound banknotes will be printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic film, rather than on the cotton paper used for notes currently in issue. Britain will be the largest economy so far to adopt the more durable polymer material for general banknotes, after 87% of respondents approved the change in a public consultation.

The new polymer notes will retain the familiar look of Bank of England banknotes including the portrait of the Queen and a historical character.

The first polymer note will be the 5-pound note featuring Sir Winston Churchill and will be issued in 2016. It will be followed around a year later by a polymer 10-pound note featuring Jane Austen.

The decision follows a three-year research program by the Bank looking at the materials on which banknotes are printed and which concluded that there were compelling reasons to move to printing on polymer.

The research indicated that polymer banknotes are resistant to dirt and moisture so stay cleaner for longer than paper banknotes. Polymer banknotes are also more secure. They incorporate advanced security features making them difficult to counterfeit and further enhancing the strong security of Bank of England banknotes.

Polymer banknotes are also more durable. They last at least 2.5 times longer than paper banknotes, so will take much longer to become "tatty", improving the quality of banknotes in circulation (allowing the bank to make savings of 25%). In addition polymer banknotes are more environmentally friendly and they last longer making them cheaper than paper banknotes. Being thin and flexible they fit into wallets and purses as easily as paper banknotes.

Polymer notes were first adopted by Australia in 1988 and are now in use in more than 20 countries including Canada, the homeland of new BoE governor Mark Carney. The Bank had announced in September that it would print notes on polymer only if persuaded that the public would continue to have confidence in, and be comfortable with, notes printed on polymer. The response to that consultation was overwhelmingly supportive of polymer notes. Over the course of two months, the Bank hosted events across the country to give the public the opportunity to learn more about polymer banknotes and to provide feedback.

Nearly 13,000 individuals gave feedback of which around 87% were in favour of polymer, 6% were opposed and 7% were neutral. The new polymer notes will be slightly smaller than their existing paper equivalents but the current practice of note size increasing with note denomination will be maintained. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, said, "Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of banknote design to meet that objective. The quality of polymer notes is higher, they are more secure from counterfeiting, and they can be produced at lower cost