The Bank of England’s first plastic banknote, the new Winston Churchill fiver, will be unveiled at Blenheim Palace, the wartime leader’s ancestral home, on Thursday. 
 
 It forms part of the Bank’s switch to polymer banknotes, which will end 320 years of paper money. The Churchill fiver, which goes into circulation in September, will be the first of a series of new plastic notes, followed by the Jane Austen £10 next year and the JMW Turner £20 by 2020. 
 
 Manufactured from a transparent plastic film and coated with an ink layer, polymer banknotes are seen as cleaner, more durable and more secure than paper. The material allows the inclusion of clear “windows” to protect against counterfeits. 
 
 The faces of Britain's banknotes – in pictures Read more 
 
 They are also more environmentally friendly than paper because they can last up to two-and-a-half times longer, according to the Bank of England. It claims that the durability will offset the higher production costs and save an estimated £100m. 
 
 The Bank’s laboratory tests showed polymer banknotes only begin to shrink and melt at 120C, so they are expected to survive a washing machine spin cycle – although they could be damaged by a hot iron. 
 
 The move to polymer notes will land shops and banks with a bill of up to £236m, it has been estimated, because ATMs, vending machines and self-service machines will need to be recalibrated to take the new plastic notes, which are 15% smaller than the current notes. Some older ATMs will need to be replaced. 
 
 
 
 More than 30 countries already use polymer notes, including New Zealand, Canada, Fiji, Mauritius and Mexico. They were first introduced by Australia, in 1988. 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest All you need to know about the new fiver … 
 
 The Churchill fiver will replace the current £5 note featuring prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. News in 2013 that she would be replaced with the former prime minister sparked an outcry as it meant that, apart from the Queen, there would be no female figures on British banknotes. A few months later the Bank announced that writer Jane Austen would be the next face of the £10 note. 
 
 
 
 Churchill will be pictured alongside a view of Westminster with Big Ben showing 3 o’clock – the approximate time on 13 May 1940 when Churchill declared in a speech: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” 
 
 • This article was amended on 3 June 2016. An earlier version said that Winston Churchill will be the first statesman to feature on British banknotes. The Duke of Wellington appeared on £5 notes from 1971 to 1991. ||||| LONDON -- The Bank of England swallowed its pride and overcame its perceived prejudice Wednesday by designating Jane Austen as the new face of the 10-pound note, bowing to public outrage over the possibility that only male historical figures would be represented on British currency. 
 
 The beloved novelist will probably appear on bank notes starting in 2017, a year after the portrait of 19th century prison reformer Elizabeth Fry is to be phased out from the five-pound note. The announcement in April that Fry would be replaced by wartime leader Winston Churchill, thus eliminating any women from Britain’s past on its bank notes, sparked protests and an online petition that drew more than 30,000 signatures. 
 
 “We’ve listened, and we fully understand the concerns that were raised by many people,” said Mark Carney, the new governor of the Bank of England, who took up the post three weeks ago. “We believe that our notes should celebrate the full diversity of British historical figures and their contributions in a wide range of fields.” 
 
 About Austen, who wrote the classics “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility,” Carney added: “We’re very certain that she will prove a popular choice.” 
 
 The move followed a storm of criticism and a creative campaign that included the Internet petition and a protest at Bank of England headquarters by women dressed up as important female figures in British history, such as scientist Rosalind Franklin and the ancient warrior-queen Boadicea. 
 
 Caroline Criado-Perez, a freelance journalist who led the drive for women’s representation on bank notes, said she was “absolutely delighted” with Carney’s decision, which he announced at a news conference at Austen’s home in Hampshire, now a museum. 
 
 Criado-Perez is particularly pleased that Carney has promised a review of how the bank chooses the people who appear on its bills. Carney pledged to revisit the criteria and to make the selection process more transparent. 
 
 “If we want to stop having basically white men running everything and being chosen for everything, then the process by which we value things and choose things needs to be changed,” said Criado-Perez. 
 
 The Bank of England’s change of heart comes at an interesting time. At present, besides Fry the reformer, the only woman featured on British currency is 87-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who as monarch appears on all notes and coins. 
 
 But after her death, Britain is likely to be ruled by kings for decades, since the next three in line for the throne are Prince Charles, 64, Prince William, 31, and William’s new son, George Alexander Louis, who was born Monday. With male monarchs eventually replacing Elizabeth on British money, the need to ensure that notable women from British history also appear takes on even more urgency. 
 
 Austen will be only the third such woman to grace a banknote, following Fry and nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. Her face will replace Charles Darwin’s. 
 
 A prototype of the bill unveiled Wednesday shows the silhouette of a writing desk and a drawing of the house where Austen’s brother lived, which is believed to have been an inspiration for places in some of her novels. 
 
 The writer’s portrait is based on a sketch by her sister, and below her gently smiling face is a quote from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading.” 
 
 ALSO: 
 
 Pope Francis visits shrine to 'Our Lady Who Appeared' 
 
 Egypt's military chief asks public support to fight 'terrorism' 
 
 Edward Snowden cleared to leave Moscow airport -- but not today
– The Bank of England introduced a five-pound note Thursday that marks the beginning of the end of a three-century run for paper money in the UK, reports the Guardian. This particular note is made of a thin plastic and designed to last more than twice as long as its paper counterpart. It features the queen on the front and Winston Churchill on the back, and it goes into circulation in September. The current five-pound paper note will remain in use for another year. Next up comes up a 10-pound plastic note featuring Jane Austen in 2017 and a 20-pound note featuring painter JMW Turner by 2020. The unveiling comes ahead of Britain's crucial vote on whether to exit the European Union, and Bloomberg notes that both sides of the debate have claimed none other than Churchill to be in their camp. Asked on Thursday about how Churchill might view the question, Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney opted to play it safe. “It’s not for me to make any inference about that,” he said.