AN investigation into fake banknotes being passed on a paradise holiday island has seen four men, all believed to be from Lancashire, arrested.

At least one of the four detained after the Royal Thai Police swoop on Ko Phangan, is understood to be from Burnley.

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Police in the south-east of the country arrested the four after complaints that forged currency was being presented to an exchange bureau there.

The suspects, all in their early 20s, were all said to be living in a rented house in the Tambon Ban Tai area when the officers moved in, during the early hours of last Friday.

Ninety-six fake £20 notes were seized, according to the Bangkok Post, along with 2.11 grams of dried marijuana.

Colonel Somchai Noppasri, the head of Koh Phangan Police, is reported to have alleged that the forged currency was brought by the four from the UK to spend while they were on holiday. The sum impounded is worth around 86,000 baht, the Thai currency.

Ko Pha-ngan, in the Surat Thani province, is famous for its ‘full moon’ parties and was a former favourite of Thai royalty, though it is now most popular with the backpacker community.

Mr Noppasri said the suspects had taken turns to change around £100 at a time at the currency exchange.

The four men, named by Bangkok press as Adam Carter, 21 and Thomas Moore, Luke Swainston-Thomas and Bradley Turner, all aged 23, were paraded on Thai TV after their arrest. They are said to have been charged with passing fake foreign currency and illegal possession of drugs.

A spokesman for Burnley MP Julie Cooper confirmed her office had been offering support to one of the four detained men, at the request of his family.

The Foreign Office is also understood to be aware of the four men’s situation and prepared to offer consular advice.

An appeal was made by the family of one of the four men, Bradley Turner, on the Go Fund Me website, requesting money to support his case but the page has been disabled.