UK tourists travelling to Europe have been given a key bit of advice on how to avoid wasting money needlessly on their holiday.

If you're paying by card abroad the customer is often asked if they would like to pay for the transaction in pounds or the local currency.

TV presenter and financial expert Matt Allwright has offered a crucial bit of advice on what to pick to avoid wasting money.

He spoke to BBC’s Morning Live, saying he had one simple rule to always follow in this scenario.

Matt Allwright gives advice on paying with a card when abroad

As reported in The Mirror Allwright said: “Repeat after me: always, always pay in local currency. It is key. If you pay in Sterling overseas, it has to go to another exchange process which we call a dynamic currency conversion. It is happening over there.

"You don’t get to see what that rate is but it is going to cost you even more than the exchange that has taken place already.

"You know the rate that you are paying already, because they will add a bit more to turn it back to Sterling.”

Allwright also suggested taking both cash and card to offer both flexibility and the best deal.

He recommends taking enough cash to last two days so that you can get to an airport in an emergency and pay for some meals if your card stops working.

In terms of what to be aware of when using a card outside of the UK he said: "We know that, very often, credit or standard debit cards which you might already have in your pocket already take exchange rates from Visa or MasterCard and add a foreign transaction fee and a Stirling transaction fee – those are the terms you need to be looking for from your regular provider.

“That can be up to 3%, meaning something costing you £100 in foreign currency suddenly costs you £103. It also applies when you are buying foreign currency online.

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"Some debit or credit cards don’t apply this fee. Check with your provider because it might be fee-free.

He added: "Some cards, in addition to the 3%, will penalise you further per transaction for spending money overseas – some even more when it is outside the European Economic Area.

"It could be 50p to £1.50 per transaction if you use one of those cards, making it a very expensive cup of coffee.”