HIREFONE, the international mobile phone and BlackBerry rental specialist based at York Business Park, Nether Poppleton, claims to have found a way around steep mobile phone charges when taking UK phones abroad.

Alleged excessive charging has already been reported to the European Commission, with complaints that most customers are unaware of how much they will be caned in their later bill for both making and receiving calls.

Hirefone's solution is to supply customers with a "local" SIM card from foreign mobile networks.

Available on a per trip or annual basis, Hirefone claims its service means expensive roaming charges incurred when using your UK mobile number overseas can now be a thing of the past.

Penny Roberts, Hirefone's international sales director, said: "We have already negotiated agreements with international networks and can supply domestic SIM cards from around the world, including India, China, Australia, France, Spain and the US.

"There are genuine savings to be made, with discounts of up to 81 per cent on calls back to the UK.

"With free incoming calls in most countries, typical savings based on average talk time of ten minutes per day over seven days, can be well in excess of £300 per week compared to using a UK mobile number."

Updated: 10:59 Thursday, April 14, 2005