Where is the best motorway service station in the UK?

Summer is here, and if you are lucky enough to be going away on holiday, it may well be a staycation. And, for many families, this is likely to include a long car journey.

Planning your route is always important, particularly if you have children and/or pets in the car with you. A key part of this is building in plenty of breaks on the way, so that you know where and when you are going to stop. This may involve stopping at one or more motorway service stations.

In this article we take a look at some fun facts about motorway service stations in the UK, including the service stations that are supposed to be the best in the country.

 

Five fun facts about motorway service stations

  • The first motorway service station in the UK was Watford Gap. It opened as a cafe called The Blue Boar on November 2nd 1959: the same day as the M1 motorway. 
  • There are currently 99 motorway service stations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Motorway service stations used to be owned by the government, but are now owned by private operators. The main operators in the UK are Moto, Welcome Break, Roadchef and Extra.
  • The most recent UK motorway service area is Rugby services on the M6. Operated by Moto Hospitality, it opened on 30th April 2021.
  • All British motorway service stations must be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to provide five essential facilities:
  • Two hours free parking
  • Free toilets and baby-changing facilities
  • A picnic/children’s play area
  • Hot drinks and snacks
  • Fuel
  • Most motorway service stations have a secret exit to enable staff and emergency services to travel easily to and from the local road network. Service station operators are legally required to prevent anybody else from using these exits.

 

The five best motorway service stations

The consumer group Which? conducted recent research to discover the best motorway service stations in the UK. The research involved 2600 customers and over 5000 experiences of 68 motorway service stations. Service stations were evaluated on a range of criteria including cleanliness, range of facilities and prices.

The top five service stations emerging from this research were:

Gloucester M5 in Gloucestershire 86%

Tebay M6 in Cumbria 83%

Cairn Lodge M74 in Lanark 69%

Norton Canes M6 Toll in Staffordshire 65%

Wetherby A1(M) in Yorkshire 61%

So if your journey is going to take you anywhere near any of the above service stations, it may be worth planning one of your breaks to include a visit.

 

The most famous motorway service station

Tebay – the service station that came second in the above list – has also gained recognition of a different kind. It features in the Channel 4 show A Lake District Farm Shop, which has made unlikely TV stars of many of Tebay’s staff. 

Situated close to the border of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, its full name is Tebay Services Farmshop & Kitchen, which gives a clue as to the nature of these special services. It has a proper restaurant with home-cooked food, and also a farm shop with freshly baked bread, an impressive cheese counter and a butchers. The farm shop has gained the nickname Harrods of the North.

Tebay also has landscaped gardens, with walking trails, a caravan park, play area, barbecue area and even a duck pond. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

 

We hope that the above information helps you when planning your holiday journey. You can find a full list of motorway service stations and their facilities at Motorway Services Online.

If you need any additional funding for your trip, bear in mind that Simple Fast Loans offers unsecured loans that may be able to help.

Check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from Simple Fast Loans. 

 

Image source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/mar/26/going-the-extra-mile-at-gloucester-services

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