Westmorland’s Gloucester and Tebay Services are the most popular motorway stop-offs with UK motorists, according to a survey by Which?.
The consumer organisation ranks the motorway service stations on the M5 and M6 as the top two in the country, with Westmorland’s Cairn Lodge on the M74 in Scotland achieving fourth place. Westmorland’s sites are known for their wide ranges of locally sourced produce and absence of major foodservice brands.
The worst services, according to the report, is Moto’s Bridgwater on the M5, which is situated on a business park just off J24. Respondents highlighted its “inadequate parking in a poorly lit multi-storey car park that gets jammed up with bewildered motorists trying to escape” as well as toilets that “look and feel filthy” and a “poor” food and drink offering.
However, the same operator’s Rugby services, opened in 2021 at the other end of the M6, near Junction 1, is placed third. Which? says it is the first time a service station from a nationwide brand has finished in the top three.
Gloucester Services also headed the previous survey by Which? four years ago.
Gloucester Services received five stars from respondents in almost every category, including its food facilities, cleanliness, and quality of outside space.
Other sites that performed well in the survey include Extra’s Leeds Skelton Lake, placed fifth, and favoured along with Moto Rugby for its “fast and plentiful EV charging points, clean facilities and outside spaces such as Rugby’s huge dog-walking area, and Leeds’ bird-viewing platform over Skelton Lake”.
Roadchef’s Norton Canes on the M6 toll and Killington Lake on the M6, Roadchef’s Annandale Water on the M74, Extra’s Beaconsfield on the M40, and Moto’s M1 Donington services make up the rest of the top 10.
Which? polled thousands of its members about more than 90 service stations and says the responses “paint a bleak picture of a network blighted by dated and inadequate service areas, many of which are filthy”.
