COUNTERFEIT £50 notes and safety issues have forced a county pub to go cashless causing online backlash.

But staff at The Pickled Plum Pub in Pershore said it had not seen a drop in trade after announcing it will now only take payments via card. 

It caused controversy after the announcement was made online and while some customers said they would still prefer to pay in cash there has been no loss of footfall. 

A spokesperson for the pub said: "We aren’t the only cashless business in Pershore but I guess we were the brave ones to advertise it and shout it out loud.

"We have been fully cashless since November 4  but have decided to advertise this on our social media page and our website as well, in order to spread the word.

"We were debating for a while whether or not to go cashless, and that was because most people pay with their cards or mobile devices but we have waited a while.

"Recently, the staff were faced with unpleasant situations and took £50 fake notes from specific individuals that you wouldn’t even dare to argue with.

"Our pub is run and managed by female workers and, to top it all off, quite a few businesses in our town were broken into recently.

"The safety of our staff and business is important to us. 

"Trade hasn’t been affected but of course you will get the cash is king crowd upset."

In a statement on Facebook the pub outlined the benefits of going cashless which included the safety of its staff, no more fake notes and card payments being quicker and easier. 

It added: "In the UK it is not illegal for businesses to refuse cash as payment.

"Although cash is a legal tender, it has a narrow definition.

"That means that businesses can choose which forms of payments they accept, including cash, card or checks.

"It is completely legal to refuse cash payments.

"Please inform yourself before shouting at our staff, we welcome everyone.

"Thank you for your support."