CHECK your wallets as the fiver you have in there may be worth a few hundred pounds.

The new plastic five pound note issued earlier this month has collectors paying through the nose for rare notes.

Waterproof and rip-resistant notes from the first batch of notes printed are being sold on eBay for more than 40 times their actual value.

The key thing to keep an eye out for on the new fiver is a serial number starting with 'AA01'.

The Queen received the first AA01 note, but there are still 999,000 issued into general circulation.

On the online bidding site, one note has been sold for £228, with another selling for £275 with two days of the auction to go.

The new notes are smaller than the old five pound note and feature the face of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill with his famous quote: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."