by Alan Douglas (05 Aug 09)

My credit card has never had it so tough. In fact it's had such a hard time that this week my lender sent me a new one to replace the tattered remains of what was once my robust yet flexible friend.

Its premature final expiry was thanks to a combination of our friends sur le continent. While we in Britain are getting our undergarments in a twist over taxation on motoring – should road tax be based on CO2? should fuel duty be increased? should we introduce road tolls? - Johnny Foreigner has been quietly bumping up the price for those of us who want to cross the Channel and drive on his roads.

Which is a cheek really. Because at the same time old Johnny can come across here en famille and drive to his heart's content on our road network and not pay a penny for the privilege - apart from the duty on our overpriced fuel. We, on the other hand, go across there and before we know it we're faced with a wall of péages . . . and that's where my credit card came in.

I was on my annual sojourn to Italy to check on the quality of this year's chianti in our favourite little corner of Tuscany. In the past it's been a straightforward drive – ferry or tunnel to France and then head south, usually hitting the Italian Lakes within eight or nine hours of solid driving.

In the past the only real cost apart from fuel was the windscreen sticker vignette which gives access to all Switzerland's motorways and tunnels for a year. It used to be only a few francs, then it became a few euros more and it has gradually crept up to £27. A fair price for a year's driving but quite a lot for just one short blast south and north again a week or two later. So this year I thought I'd give Switzerland a miss and stay in France, crossing the border into Italy near Turin.

I'd made the wise decision to choose a trusty steed for the job. Those nice people at BMW were keen for me to give the long-legged cruiser, the 530d Touring a break in the sunshine and I was happy to oblige. For a big powerful machine, it's remarkably efficient, happily turning in almost 40 miles for every gallon. That didn't stop me judging things perfectly, though, for a well-timed stop in Luxembourg for a fill-up of their bargain basement fuel.

Luxembourg may be one of the smallest countries in Europe – blink and you'll miss it as you head between France and the Netherlands – but they have some of the biggest filling stations I've ever seen, even employing marshals to keep order in the forecourts which are the size of football pitches. They've deliberately kept the tax low to encourage business, and now every seasoned European traveller stops off to take advantage of diesel at less than 70p a litre.

However, crossing the border into France I came on the first of the péages – the toll booths for the autoroute. Take the ticket and head off and certainly the roads are superb – great surfaces, no delays and good lane discipline, even if the gendarmerie have decided to focus their attention on travellers - particularly, I suspect, those displaying GB plates.

Every couple of miles the distinctive blue Renault or Citroen could be seen tucked into the side with Monsieur G and his radar gun at the ready. On one occasion, they were ready for action, poised at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza STi. And speed cameras are everywhere, a similar grey colour but a different style from ours and without the diagonal high-visibility stripes.

So there I was, cruising down the autoroute without a care in the world until I eventually came on another peage and this was the serious one which wanted cash. I had my €5 note at the ready – only to be asked for four times that. €20 or 17 quid for around 50 or 60 miles of French motorway.

I was still doing the arithmetic when I came on another péage and another ticket, followed by another péage about an hour later. It was then I went for the credit card option which always seems less painful than handing over hard cash.

It is far too easy. The ticket goes in the slot followed by the credit card and the transaction's complete. My southern trip through France cost around £60 for some admittedly fine autoroutes and the alternative roads would have taken longer and would have been in poorer condition.

Then came the biggest shock as I headed for the Fréjus tunnel under the Alps heading for Turin. Another péage specifically for the tunnel - and that was €33 for a single trip through the eight-mile link. Into Italy and I found they're at it too, with hefty charges for the right to drive on their autostrade. On the trip down to our village south of Florence I had to keep my credit card on call all the time with charges ranging from a lowly 45p to the biggest single charge of £32.35.

A week in the Tuscan sunshine helped ease the pain but I was faced with the same charges in reverse for the return journey. I gave the Fréjus tunnel a miss and headed instead for the Mont Blanc further north, only to find it is operated by the same company who charge exactly the same, so that was another £29.

In all, I reckon I spent around £250 on road and tunnel tolls on the 3000-mile trip which was rounded off with an early evening thrash up the M6 past Birmingham. Radio road reports told of congestion around Birmingham so I headed for the M6 toll section and sailed past all the hold ups for around 30 miles and happily coughed up another £4.50 – the final payment on my very tired credit card.

It was the best investment of all – and I have to say that with hindsight our annual road tax, even at the highest level of £400, seems like good value in comparison to the charges across the channel. It's just a pity the Government doesn't use the revenue it generates to give us roads of the standard of our European friends.

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