by Sam Baker, reporter

In the near future people may well see the famous face of a former Kent resident on the new £50 note.

This comes after the Bank of England announced that it will be producing a brand new £50 note, made out of a polymer.

The new polymer note will therefore continue the trend of the old paper notes being switched to plastic polymer notes, with the £5 and £10 notes being changed in the past two years.

Luke Buchanan-Hodgman believes that the reason for updating the £50 note is to safeguard against forgers and criminals who generally only deal with higher value tender.

By upgrading the notes to the new plastic base material, it puts a halt to the forging of £50 notes. It is estimated that before the polymer notes were introduced, around 1 in 20 notes in the UK were forged, the vast majority being £20 notes.

Medway Councillor Vince Maple believes that the selection of a new figure for the back of the new note is a “Rare and special opportunity for the public, and one which they should use to celebrate someone who’s life deserves praise”.