A LONG-TERM customer said she was treated ‘like a criminal’ after the Post Office allegedly handed her a counterfeit note.

Leia Southwell said she withdrew money from the main Weymouth post office branch and went to another bank to pay it in.

Whilst queuing to see the cashier, she noticed that something wasn’t quite right about one of the £20 notes she said she had been handed.

Mrs Southwell, of St Leonards Road, Weymouth, said: “I had no other money on me when I went in to the Post Office and it was the only place I dealt with money.

“There is no doubt the note came from there. The silver strip was faded and the colour was different.

“I asked Lloyds TSB to check and they said it was counterfeit.

“They took the note and said they would investigate.

“It was so embarrassing. I stood there thinking ‘everyone can hear what’s being said, what must they think?’”

But the mum-of-three said that when she went back to the Post Office, she was treated like a criminal.

She said: “I went to a different woman and pointed out the cashier that had handed me the money.

“The manager came out and said there was nothing they could do.”

Mrs Southwell, 33, called the Post Office customer service helpline and was told that a response would take 10 working days.

A Post Office spokeswoman said that if the issue had been raised before Mrs Southwell left the branch initially, the note could have been exchanged.

She added: “The Post Office takes such matters very seriously and has strict procedures in place to prevent the distribution of counterfeit notes. “Our customer service team will refund the £20 and also ask the customer to send us the note so we can thoroughly investigate this matter.”

But the note was detained by Lloyds TSB.

A spokeswoman for Lloyds TSB said: “Our staff always check bank notes being paid in to our branches. “If they see a counterfeit it is our policy to retain the note and return it to the issuing bank, usually the Bank of England, for it to be examined and destroyed.

“Customers are given a receipt so that can be refunded if, after further investigation, it is found that the bank note is genuine.

“We would urge customers to always remain vigilant and to always check bank notes.”

Mrs Southwell added: “My husband is unable to work at the moment and so £20 is a lot of money.

“He has depression and having to go back and tell him wasn’t very nice. When he went to the Post Office to discuss it, he was asked ‘well how do we know your wife didn’t put it there?’ “They asked why I didn’t check it when it was handed over. That’s not my job and they’re trained to do it.

“You would think that being a long-term customer they would treat you a bit better.

“I’m sure it was an honest mistake and they’ll investigate, but I was treated like a criminal.”