There is just over a week left to spend the old style paper £10 notes before they cease to be legal tender.

At the end of the day on Thursday next week (March 1), the notes featuring Charles Darwin will have their legal tender status withdrawn - meaning it is time for people to rummage down the backs of sofas and through piggy banks for any old tenners they still want to use.

The banknotes are being phased out after the launch of the new polymer Jane Austen £10 note last September.

The Bank of England previously announced that it would withdraw legal tender status of the Darwin banknote, which was first issued nearly 18 years ago in November 2000, at 11.59pm on March 1.

After that, it will still be possible for Darwin banknotes to be exchanged at the Bank of England.

Major banks have also said they will continue to accept deposits of the old paper tenner from their own customers after March 1.

People can also take their old £10 notes to the Post Office, which is also still accepting account deposits of the old 'round pounds' and old paper Bank of England fivers.

Martin Kearsley, banking services director at the Post Office, which has 11,600 branches across the UK, said: 'We want to remind customers that, even if they don't have a bank branch nearby, they can come to the Post Office to access their bank account and bank their tenner.

'Thanks to an agreement with all UK high street banks, everyone can deposit cash and cheques, including any old notes, into their usual high street bank account at their local Post Office branch.'

RBS/NatWest said it will continue to accept old £10 notes from its own customers after March 1.

Santander also said it will allow customers to deposit old £10 notes into their accounts after March 1, as did Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Nationwide Building Society.

The withdrawal of the old paper tenner means that the Bank of England's legal tender £10 notes, as well as its £5 notes, are made from polymer, while its current £20 and £50 notes are paper.

The Bank's next £20 note, to be issued in 2020, will be made from polymer.