AN EAGLE-EYED shop assistant helped police catch a man trying to use fake £20 notes in Harborough town centre.
Danielle Starr, who works at It's a Gas party shop in St Mary's Road, was quick to spot the forgery as the man tried to use it to pay for a balloon. When she refused to take it, the man left, but Miss Starr contacted the Enigma pub in Coventry Road t
o warn them and pass on the man's description.
Staff at Enigma put the alert out on the HART (Harborough Against Retail Theft) radios and police swooped and arrested the man, who is from Peterborough, in the town centre just minutes later. He admitted trying to use a fake £20 in the Costa Coffee shop in St Mary's Place and was given a police caution.
Miss Star said of the incident, at about 11.30am last Thursday: "The note was obviously not real. The hologram looked like it had been painted on. When I told him he said his mate had given it to him earlier and walked out."
Henry Whatley, of Harborough police, said: "Fake notes are often used to buy something small, in order to obtain the maximum amount of change. The incident really showed the value of the HART radio scheme. He must have been wondering how he got caught so quickly."
