Rebecca Taylor, Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, has backed the proposal of European Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, to scrap mobile phone roaming charges in the EU by Easter 2014. It is anticipated that by then the EU could pass laws ending charges consumers pay to use a phone outside their home country.

She said: “From my own experience of using my phone in other European countries, I am unfortunately more than familiar with the problem of excessive roaming charges. Residents here should not be afraid about the cost of using their mobile phones abroad.

“The EU has already taken action to protect consumers by capping roaming charges, but I hope we will now be able to scrap roaming charges entirely and make it no more expensive for people to use their mobile phone abroad than it is at home.”