A BUILDER from Gerrards Cross said his skiing holiday was ruined when he was arrested after being given thousands of pounds worth of fake currency at a post office.

Steve Cripps, 42, said he exchanged £2,000 into euros at Gerrards Cross post office in Packhorse Road, before jetting off to Austria with his family.

But he said after trying to use the euros from the post office at the Soll ski resort he was told the notes were fake and he took them to a nearby bank.

The bank called the police who proceeded to arrest Mr Cripps and put him in custody for nearly ten hours, the Dukes Wood Road resident said.

Mr Cripps said: “It ruined the bloody holiday to be honest – it was unbelievable. We stayed on for the rest of it but it wasn't exactly enjoyable after going through that.”

He said he avoided spending a night in the cells because his daughter emailed a receipt for the money from the post office so the Austrian police could check the serial numbers on the notes.

On his return to Britain Mr Cripps went back to the Packhorse Road post office to demand his money back, but said he was offered no apology and told to contact a central office in London.

Rajinder Sandhu, the branch manager at Gerrards Cross post office, told the Bucks Free Press: “We got the receipts sent to Austria to help him but we can't refund the money here.

"We have sympathy for him but there has to be a proper investigation by the post office. If there has been a mistake he has been very unlucky because this has never happened before."

A spokesman for the Royal Mail Group said Mr Cripps had been contacted and an investigation was being carried out.