AIUI, the Bank of England is saying that they will take them. But since I'm not in London and can't show up at Threadneedle St, I took some a couple of weeks ago to a Lloyds branch near me (my son brought them over from Canada when he was here for Christmas). They initially refused to take them as I do not bank with them, but there's now no NatWest branch within 30 miles so driving to my nearest branch wasn't a sensible option for me for £15 worth of coins. Lloyds did, however, eventually take them as a goodwill gesture.