So is there a need to continue lobbying parliament with this issue? Well, the comments of disgruntled commuters seem to suggest so. At £5.10, the new toll charge for driving a car into Wales is too high for most drivers to settle with pocket change, and as cheque use has declined massively in recent years.

In Europe the use of credit cards on toll bridges and motorways is widespread. Research has shown that the higher the toll charges, the more credit cards are used. In the UK, commuters using the M6 and Forth Road Bridge, Scotland are already benefiting from the introduction of card payment facilities. In Wales, however, home to the third most expensive toll bridge in the UK, the cash and cheque only policy is still causing a percentage of commuters much aggravation. Mrs Madeleine Moon of Bridgend complained in a recent email to Jack Straw: “A number of women have had to hunt the byways and backways of England late at night to find a cash machine in order to pay to cross the Severn. Allowing payment by card would greatly help those of us who need to travel to Wales regularly.”