TWO Barrow brothers have been left frustrated after a fraudster used an out-of-circulation note to buy food from their burger van.

A man used an out of circulation £100 to pay for £10 worth of food at McMunchies, based in the A590 lay-by just off Walney Road.

McMunchies is owned by Barrow brothers Jason and Craig McCullough.

The £100 Bank of Scotland note is part of the Tercentenary Series that was taken out of circulation in 2007.

Due to a regular busy lunch time service it was not until just after the man left that Jason realised what it was.

Jason said: “What he has done is fraud and the affects for a small trader can be huge.

“That is our wages and all our profit for that day was gone because of that.

"Even if we scanned them because they are out-of-circulation they would have seemed legitimate."

His brother Craig said: “It also means we have to work twice as hard the next day just to try and get our money back.”

Jason also noticed how the man had a handful of similar notes in his hand and was deeply concerned that other traders in the area would also be targeted.

He said: “I would urge any small traders to be careful and vigilant.

“After looking at it we believe we can get £85 back from the Bank of Scotland, but people still need to be careful.”

The culprit has been described as a white male with ‘mousey’ blonde hair wearing a blue polo shirt with a roofing logo on.

He was also described as being in his early 40s and was driving a white transit van.

Mr McCullough said that the incident has been reported to a community officer.

Anyone with more information should contact Cumbria Police on 101.

A spokeswoman from Cumbria Police said: “Someone using tender they know to be out of date is potentially committing a fraud offence.

“We would urge any trader not to take the money in the first instance and if they have reason to believe it was an act of dishonesty, rather than a genuine error, report it to police.”