Sky-high prices of travel-size toiletries

Shops charge more for less

they got to the stranded car, how often they fixed the problem and their knowledge and friendliness.

The AA was not the quickest to respond but was praised for how helpful and friendly its staff were to stranded motorists.

Across all five of the companies in the survey, a third had the problem fixed on the spot.

Flat batteries and tyres were the most common causes of callouts and only one per cent were due to putting in the wrong fuel.

One in five needed to be towed to a garage and five in every 100 could not be helped.

One in four did not have to wait longer than 30 minutes, over half were seen within the hour and 90 per cent said they were happy with the speed of response.

But more than a quarter of drivers only belong to a roadside repair service because it came free when they bought their car.

An Auto Express spokesman said: “Life on the roadside isn’t fun, which means recovery response times are vital.” CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT PLANE passengers are being taken to the cleaners over travel-sized toiletries.

The Sunday People has found high street stores are using strict hand- luggage rules to charge more for less.

At Boots, for instance, 35ml of Nivea Cool Kick Deodorant costs £2.10, 10p more than the 250ml version of the same product.

Security limits us to 100ml of shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletries in our hand luggage.

But we found travel- sized items can be significantly more expensive than larger sizes still in the 100ml limit.

We found a 30ml t ub of Nivea Nourishing Hand Cream moisturiser for sale at £1.59 at Boots while a 50ml version of Nivea Creme was available in the same shop for £1.39.

Similarly in Wilko, a 25ml tube of Colgate MaxFresh Cooling toothpaste was £1.25 with 75ml of Colgate Cool Stripe for 95p.

At Superdrug, a 25ml tube of Colgate Max White Optic toothpaste cost £2 while a 75ml tube of Colgate Max White Luminous toothpaste was £1.98.

Even cheaper was 75ml of Colgate Cavity Protection at £1.

James Walker, of consumer website Resolver, urged holidaymakers to plan ahead to avoid paying for expensive miniatures. He said: “Consumers are already cynical about the ways some brands try to squeeze more money out of them.

“But I doubt people realise just how much extra money they pay for hand luggagefriendly products.”

A Boots spokesman said: “Many people prefer the option of miniatures, especially travel miniatures as they save space and weight in luggage. We also sell empty, reusable miniature bottles should our customers prefer to decant their own.” A Wilko spokesman said production costs fall on high-demand items and while miniatures offered convenience and choice they have “less continuous demand”.

Britain has banned laptops and tablets in cabin luggage on planes from the Middle East and North Africa in an anti-terrorism move.

Rules for liquids…

Containers must hold no more than 100ml.

They must be in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag that measures 20x20cm.

A maximum of one litre of liquids in total and the bag must close.