COST me a Bobby that did! Here, lend me a Dudley will ya? That'll be an apple mate.* However you put it the new £20 note hit the high street yesterday.

The UK's most common bank-note - there are currently around 1.3 billion in circulation - was relaunched for the first time since 1999.

Customers at the cash machine will discover a new, more vibrantly coloured note which incorporates a range of enhanced security measures designed to combat counterfeiting. These include microlettering and a wider silver hologram and metallic thread recognition strip. Around 350,000 forged £20 notes were discovered last year.

Bank of England's chief cashier, Andrew Bailey, said the new features were the latest step in the fight against fraudsters. He continued: "We do not have a serious counterfeiting problem in this country, but because it is the most common note it is the one that has proved most attractive to counterfeiters."

But it's not the new security features that have filled the column inches over the last couple of days. It's the choice of face to adorn the newest addition to the paper money family that has set tongues across the country wagging.

The Bank of England's new note bears the image of 18th century economist Adam Smith, renowned for his Wealth of Nations analysis on free markets. But according to a poll conducted by Virgin Money earlier this week, three-quarters of Britons have no idea who the Scottish author was. And even those who have heard of Adam Smith would struggle to recognise him.

Instead the survey suggested Sir Winston Churchill as a more popular choice to replace English composer Sir Edward Elgar's image. The wartime leader took more than half of all votes in the male category whilst suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst topped the female list of famous faces people want to see on UK banknotes.

Other women to receive votes included former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Diana, Princess of Wales. Prince William's mother proved far more popular than his current girlfriend, Kate Middleton, who scraped onto the bottom of the female list behind reality TV contestant Jade Goody. Authors Jane Austin and Beatrix Potter were also suggested.

Male faces the great British public would like to see emblazoned across banknotes include Stephen Hawking and John Lennon who both attained around 7.5% of the vote. Footballer David Beckham and England's World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore also received votes, while rock star Pete Doherty footed the list keeping political duo Tony Blair and Gordon Brown off the bottom slot.

* Bobby Moore, Dudley Moore and apple core are all Cockney Rhyming slang for score, which means 20, which in turn means £20!