The bank’s chief cashier Sarah John told MPs on the public accounts committee that UK households have stockpiled cash since March much like they stockpiled toilet paper.

More than four billion banknotes were in circulation before the COVID-19 crisis and the volume has increased since, with the majority hidden at home by people across the UK, The Times reports.

Ms John said: “What we saw when lockdown came in was people stockpiling cash — literally relying on cash as a contingency. So people were withdrawing large sums of money, often over the counter rather than at ATMs.

“They wanted to stock up on toilet roll and they wanted to stock up on cash at the same time. That is something we often see in periods of uncertainty. Our surveys indicate between 8 and 13% of people are holding more cash at home as a result of the pandemic.”

Cash withdrawals have fallen in all areas of the UK since the pandemic hit because people are increasingly paying with card, but the volume of notes in circulation has risen because the amount of cash being deposited has fallen even faster.