A 17-year-old boy was caught trying to pass forged Scottish banknotes as legal tender in the town centre.

Swindon Youth Court heard the youngster was caught by staff at Claire’s Accessories in the Brunel shopping centre last May trying to pay for items using a Scottish £20 note.

Believing the note to have been forged the staff held him in the store until police arrived.

The youth, who was not from Swindon, had another three forged Scottish £20 note and a fake £50 note. It emerged he had used the counterfeit currency in five other town centre stores before going to Claire’s Accessories. The shops included Costa Coffee outlets in Havelock Street and The Parade.

Mark Glendenning, defending, questioned why it had taken more than a year for his client’s case to get to court. He had no previous convictions and was about to start working at a relative’s removals business.

Magistrates asked the boy how he had got hold of the notes. It was the boy’s father who replied: “He saw something on the internet.”

The boy admitted five counts of passing counterfeit currency and five counts of controlling counterfeit notes. He was given a three month youth referral order and told to pay £107 in costs and surcharge.