Shopkeepers in York are being warned to keep on the look-out for counterfeit notes in the run-up to Christmas, after the Evening Press obtained a fake £20.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police force warned that bogus notes were likely to become more common as the festive season approached - and said businesses should be on their guard.

Since January this year, police in York and Selby received 26 counterfeit currency reports, 15 of which had taken place since the beginning of April.

During this year's Royal Ascot meeting at York racecourse, several people were arrested for attempting to bet with counterfeit money.

In September, volunteers from the York and District Diabetic Association were dismayed to find they had been passed two forged £20 notes during a fundraising sale at St Crux Church.

Helen Ingham, senior waitress at Caf Concerto, in High Petergate, said the eatery had already been handed several dodgy notes this week.

One customer had been handed back a £20 after a scan with an ultra-violet pen proved it was not the real thing.

"It did look really quite real - it was scary how real it looked," she said. "We gave it back to the customer and said they had to take it to the bank.

"Yesterday we found a fake £20 and two £10s."

Evening Press sub-editor Bob Lawrence told how he was given a fake £20 by a bank in York when he took money out of a savings account. Minutes later, when he tried to pay the same money into his current account at the Nationwide Building Society in Parliament Street, the fake note was rejected.

"The note was quite obviously a fake when you looked at it and they even ran it under UV lighting to show me."

"Nationwide held on to the note, which they have to because legally they have to take it out of circulation," said Mr Lawrence.

The Nationwide gave Mr Lawrence an official stamped paper which he took back to the Halifax. They accepted it and gave him a real £20.

Under law, shopkeepers are not obliged to accept counterfeit notes if they are handed them - even innocently - by a customer.

The police spokeswoman said businesses should get in touch with officers if they could identify a counterfeit suspect, but should otherwise advise a customer to take a forged note back to the bank.

In 2004, 325,000 forged English bank notes were taken off the streets, of which a huge majority - 285,000 - were £20s. There are currently about two billion notes in circulation.

Lee Dobney, head of notes at the Bank of England, told retailers in York earlier this year how the net was closing on forgers.

"Counterfeiting is a crime and no matter what the amount, somebody loses some money," he said.

2. Six men hunted over York rape

EVIDENCE: Police search the grounds of St Martin's Church in Micklegate, York

A GANG of six men was involved in the repeated rape of a helpless deaf woman in a York graveyard, detectives have revealed today.

Officers have renewed calls for potential witnesses to come forward following the attack in the grounds of St Martin's Church in the Micklegate area in the early hours of Sunday.

Earlier this week, police issued a description of one attacker, but also wanted to speak to five other men in the area at the time.

It has since emerged that all six men took part in the 36-year-old victim's nightmare.

They were wearing dark clothing with hoods.

Detective Inspector Jon Reed, of York Police, told the Evening Press: "She has been the victim of a repeated serious sexual assault by six men who were all involved in the offence.

"She is still very shaken and just hoping we trace these people. It is causing her a lot of upset."

A police spokesman said the woman was deaf and can not speak."She was unable to shout for help," he said.

The woman was also unable to relay the horror she had just endured to a Good Samaritan who went to her aid in Micklegate shortly afterwards.

That person placed her in a taxi which already had a male passenger, and the driver took her to the Huntington Road area of the city.

"They should be able to remember the victim as she had to write down her address for the taxi driver to be understood," said DI Reed.

He said they could all hold vital information such as the time of the attack to help narrow the investigation.

"It is a very serious offence and we are pulling out all the stops to trace them. But we need the assistance of the public," he said.

The woman had been drinking in the Reflex bar on Saturday night before leaving with a man.

The attack is believed to have happened between 1am and 4am when people will have been making their way home from their night out.

Enquiries are still being made with taxi firms while investigators are painstakingly studying City of York Council CCTV and security footage from local premises.

Officers also hope to step up patrols in the Micklegate area this Saturday night to ask people whether they saw or heard anything suspicious.

But appeals for help from people in the area, such as late-night revellers at Reflex who may have unwittingly seen something, have been unsuccessful.

A dedicated incident telephone line has been set up to take calls about the attack.

Anyone who was in Reflex, or in the area of Micklegate, George Hudson Street and St Martin's Lane between 9pm on Saturday and 6am on Sunday should phone police on 01609 768111.

Updated: 11:51 Saturday, November 19, 2005