Good reply....
Halifax clarity credit card is currently fee FREE for use in Europe, worked a treat.
Italian service stations off the autoroutes are almost fully automated and hense, unattended frequently + they WONT accept UK credit cards
, group I was with used a lot of cash up on them.
Wish I'd of known - seems it might be possible to buy a fuel card in the UK but I've had no need to investigate that now.
Post office / Mastercard apparently do a Pre-paid credit card, you choose how much to put on it before leaving home - interesting.
Good luck.