IF you're sick of paying top notch fuel prices or handing over a small fortune for food which would turn Gordon Ramsay purple, then this book is for you.

The (supposed) idea of motorway travel is that you reach your destination more swiftly - the payback is that service stations en-route have you at their mercy.

We've all passed junctions and eyed the signs to places never before visited. And we always press on, afraid of ending up driving aimlessly around for hours.

Now you have an option. Off The Motorway provides a list of useful facilities and places of interest within one mile of each motorway junction.

For example, should you ever find yourself at Junction 9 of the M6 - between Walsall and Wednesbury - then the guide identifies four fast food joints plus one Chinese, one Mediterranean and two Indian restaurants, two hotels, two food' pubs, two filling stations and a retail park.

It also tells you where the nearest hospital is located and, should you wish to extend your stay, identifies the Walsall Leather Museum and The New Art Gallery Walsall as points of interest.

The guide - which includes locator maps - also provides various information on facilities, including whether they offer disabled access, accept credit cards or have toilets, cash dispensers or children's play areas.

And for those of you with sat nav, this fourth edition includes addresses and postcodes.

My only gripe? This book has a blank space in the North-East, the A1(M) from Scotch Corner north to Washington, sadly forgotten.