The European Union and Switzerland have ended a three year dispute over the use of country's roads by foreign trucks.

Under a compromise, Switzerland will be obliged to raise the weight limit for haulage vehicles from twenty-eight tons to forty by the year 2,005.

But it in turn will introduce a toll for trucks crossing the environmentally sensitive Alps.

An EU spokeswoman said the notion of trucks paying taxes for the first time meant polluters had to pay.

Officials hope the pact, which must be approved by EU foreign ministers, will lead to other environment-based road toll schemes.