ON a shopping visit to Ledbury's charming High Street recently my wife and I experienced an incident totally out of character with the friendly and hospitable treatment we have enjoyed over several years superb summer holidays in this delightful town.

We were looking for holiday gifts and in one shop we found a small item priced at £3.99.

We took this to the counter and presenting the shopkeeper with a well worn Royal Bank of Scotland five pound note found ourselves being treated to a public statement by the trader to the effect that they had lost £400 recently as a result of receiving payment for goods in counterfeit Scottish banknotes, and consequently they had imposed an embargo on accepting any Scottish banknotes for any purchases.

I had offered a Clydesdale Bank Plc ten pound note as an alternative and as this was rejected, my wife and I had to go through the immensely embarrassing experience of scrabbling through our pockets (and handbag) to find enough coins of the realm to provide the £3.99 required, whilst still being subjected to this policy statement, with further statements in a loud voice, that other traders in the High Street had similar problems with said currency.

We sympathise totally with this shopkeeper and other traders in Ledbury who have suffered form the problems of the unscrupulous use of counterfeit Scottish banknotes but suggest that there has to be a less draconian method of dealing with it e.g. a polite note in the shop window explaining to shoppers why the dealer would be unwilling to trade with customers offering Scottish banknotes in payment for goods. No doubt they would lose some trade as a result of such a notice, but it would spare the feelings of the poor customer, treated as though he might well be the counterfeiter himself.

The situation was so embarrassingly unreal that I attempted to treat it as a joke commenting "I am an engraver myself (true) but I'm not that good." But the attempt to get people to lighten up fell on barren ground.

We emphasise that there were no harsh or abusive words from any party albeit the bulk of the 'exchange' was a monologue by the shopkeeper and while it may have been diverting but possibly more mutually embarrassing for the other customers at the counter it definitely spoiled our day.

We do not wish to identify the shopkeeper or the shop concerned because we have had courteous and efficient service in this excellent shop on previous holidays when we have purchased gifts for our grand children, other family and friends, but such extraordinary behaviour is not acceptable.

C H CROLE, Cumbernauld, Glasgow.