Bob Ainsworth MP has said that he would not advise others to purchase foreign currency from the Post Office, having received confirmation that they hand out money that they have taken in without any adequate checks for forgeries.

This has led to the arrest and possible prosecution of his constituent Mr Nichols by the Greek authorities after purchased his Euros from the Post Office.

Bob Ainsworth says; ‘The worrying thing is that the correspondence I have received from the Post Office regarding this matter doesn’t indicate any intention to tighten their procedures.

Bureau de Change is in my opinion the most insecure end of the banking system and the Post Office are now adopting the same low standards.  So the confidence that people have in the reputation of the Post Office is severely misplaced.

What people should ask themselves is, would I buy money from a Bureau de Change with no reputation and about which I know nothing, if the answer is  no, don’t buy from the Post Office because they adopted the same practises’.

Bob Ainsworth is seeking a meeting with Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State in the Department of Trade and Industry, to see whether regulations should be changed.  He is also taking the matter up with the Greek authorities on behalf of Mr Nichols.