The Top Motorway Services in the UK

Research from Transport Focus suggests that just under 1 in 2 of us will plan our service station stops before a journey, and that factors like the choice of places to eat, parking spaces and quality of amenities are all key to our decision. To put an end to service station despair, we’ve analysed the facilities of 112 locations across the UK, taking the above factors into account for a definitive ranking.

The Safe Havens

Extra’s Cobham services on the M25 are the clear winner on our list, and if you’re travelling in this part of the country, you might well need the rest. According to a survey, the M25 is considered to be the UK's least favourite motorway, largely because of excessive congestion. Additionally, other research suggests that drivers in London are spending 73 hours a year in traffic – so they’d be forgiven for needing a quick break!

Cobham, at junction 9/10, tops our list by a solid 3 points. It boasts the most food outlets of any service station, with 13 unique offerings including; KFC, McDonalds and even Nando’s. The station also includes a whopping 4620 parking spaces available to its customers – meaning you’ll never be short of a space or an opportunity to stretch your legs.

Controversially, the UK’s most dangerous motorway – the M6 – also had a number of excellent service stations, suggesting a lack of places to take a break isn’t the main reason for the road’s 7,000 reported accidents over the last ten years. Junction 3’s Corley services is right in the middle of the country and hit 5th place in our list with a rating of 88.53. Meanwhile Norton Canes (on the toll road) also scored highly, with an overall rating of 87.30.

Heading further north, your best place to rest if you’re heading towards Tyneside or the Scottish border is Moto’s Weatherby services. This stop of includes 8 food outlets and has the best hotel rating on our entire list, claiming a score of 87.38 - the highest anywhere on the M1 or A1(M).

Which Motorways have it Best?

If you’re travelling on the M11 today then you’re in luck – with an average score of 85 points, this motorway ranked the best for available service stations. This was thanks to a solid score from Birchanger Green services, which boasts 8 different food outlets. London’s M25 placed eleventh on the list, and the M1 came in ninth. Motorists hitting the M23 in Surrey, however, aren’t in for a good stop, with an average score of 63.

Battle of the Brands

The average rank of all service stations was a steady 78.10, yet Welcome Break comes out on top as the most consistently high service station provider with an average rank of 82.35 across all of its sites.

UK Service Stations Index

Wifi
Car charging
Shower
Arcade
Hotel
# Station Name Overall
Score		 MSO Rating Motorway Food
Outlets		 Available Facilities Hotel
Rating		 Parking
Spaces		 Parking charge
(after 2 hours)
1 Cobham   97.28
3.69
M25 13
4 4620 £30
2 Cherwell Valley   94.80
4.02
M40 10
3.8 2050 £15
3 South Mimms   90.11
3.55
M25 9
3.5 1490 £15
4 Chester   88.71
3.61
M56 6
3.5 900 £12
5 Corley   88.53
4.08
M6 8
4 960 £15
6 Fleet   88.38
3.73
M3 9
3.5 840 £15
7 Exeter   88.27
3.54
M5 9
3.7 860 £15
8 Wetherby   87.38
4.18
A1 (M) 8
4.5 370 £15
9 Norton Canes   87.30
3.67
M6 TOLL 5
4 730 £12
10 Leigh Delamere   86.96
3.11
M4 8
3.5 1280 £15
11 Tamworth   86.78
3.41
M42 8
4 860 £15
12 Lymm   86.74
3.71
M6 5
3.9 2490 £16
13 Oxford   86.40
3.86
M40 8
3.5 620 £15
14 Woodall   85.88
4
M1 7
3.5 840 £15
15 Reading  (east) 85.84
3.07
M4 8
4 790 £15
16 Beaconsfield   85.50
3.4
M40 12
3.5 1210 £25
17 Newport Pagnell   85.46
3.45
M1 7
3.5 1070 £15
18 Birchanger Green   85.13
3.52
M11 8
3 620 £15
19 Membury   85.10
3.48
M4 7
3.5 940 £15
20 Thurrock   84.87
3.13
M25 6
4 1400 £15
21 Southwaite  (south) 84.62
3.22
M6 7
4 790 £15
22 Warwick  (south) 84.35
3.51
M40 7
3.5 690 £15
23 Gordano   84.12
3.02
M5 7
3.5 940 £15
24 Chieveley   84.04
3.15
M4 7
3.6 1180 £16
25 Michaelwood   83.83
3.59
M5 6
4 780 £15
26 Southwaite  (north) 83.79
3.22
M6 6
4 1010 £15
27 Folkestone 83.60
3.5
M20 8
  1190 £6
28 Hartshead Moor   83.42
3.58
M62 6
3.5 830 £15
29 Stafford (South)   83.35
3.4
M6 3
3.5 810 £12
30 Hilton Park  (north) 83.23
3.67
M6 6
3.8 610 £15
31 Warwick  (north) 82.94
3.51
M40 6
3.5 730 £15
32 Trowell  (south) 82.73
3.72
M1 5
4 830 £15
33 Medway  (east) 82.67
3.81
M2 5
3.8 820 £15
34 Magor   82.63
2.72
M4 4
3 730 £12
35 Hilton Park  (south) 82.53
3.67
M6 5
3.8 870 £15
36 Stirling   82.48
4.42
M9 5
4.5 125 £15
37 Lancaster  (north) 82.47
3.43
M6 6
3.7 570 £15
38 Sedgemoor (North)   82.47
3.07
M5 6
4 700 £15
39 Toddington  (south) 82.43
2.64
M1 6
3.5 1140 £15
40 Trowell  (north) 82.08
3.72
M1 5
4 630 £15
41 Gretna   81.99
4.71
M74 4
3.5 600 £15
42 Broxden MFG  81.73
4
M90 2
  50 £5
43 Appleby Magna  81.62
2.5
M42 4
  50 £5
44 Kinross   81.57
3.75
M90 5
4.1 420 £15
45 Leicester Forest East   81.55
3.17
M1 7
3.5 50 £15
46 Doncaster (North)   81.55
4.11
M18 4
4.1 650 £15
47 Killington Lake   81.38
3.79
M6 2
3.5 420 £12
48 Frankley  (south) 81.36
3.54
M5 5
3.7 630 £15
49 Toddington  (north) 81.32
2.64
M1 6
3.5 800 £15
50 Annandale Water   81.28
3.8
M74 5
4 330 £12
51 Hamilton   81.10
3.69
M74 2
3.5 400 £12
52 Durham   80.98
3.91
A1 (M) 2
3.5 220 £12
53 London Gateway   80.38
3.44
M1 5
4 290 £15
54 Bridgwater   80.32
3.21
M5 6
3.7 50 £15
55 Abington   80.22
3.15
M74 5
3.5 600 £15
56 Cardiff West   80.06
3.82
M4 4
3.4 620 £15
57 Swansea   79.81
4.1
M4 3
4 630 £15
58 Cardiff Gate   79.24
3.07
M4 5
4 180 £15
59 Lancaster  (south) 79.17
3.43
M6 4
3.7 500 £15
60 Rivington  78.70
3
M4 6
2.5 870 £8
61 Heston  (west) 78.70
3.07
M4 5
3.6 150 £15
62 Baldock   78.15
4.04
A1 (M) 8
4 650 £28
63 Keele   78.11
4.48
M6 7
  870 £15
64 Telford   78.03
3.06
M54 4
3.5 460 £15
65 Hopwood Park   77.86
3.98
M42 7
  1120 £15
66 Donington Park   77.84
4.09
M1 7
3.9 1250 £15
67 Peterborough   77.67
3.73
A1 (M) 9
3.5 400 £28
68 Heston  (east) 77.60
3.07
M4 3
3.6 760 £15
69 Reading  (west) 77.37
3.07
M4 9
4 790 £15
70 Winchester  (south) 77.07
3.22
M3 6
3.5 650 £15
71 Charnock Richard   77.06
3.88
M6 7
  940 £15
72 Sarn Park   76.86
3.43
M4 3
3.5 330 £15
73 Taunton Deane   76.81
3.26
M5 5
3.5 1020 £12
74 Stafford (North)   76.80
3.4
M6 8
4 870 £15
75 Washington  (north) 76.21
3.19
A1 (M) 2
4 590 £15
76 Watford Gap   75.97
3.43
M1 5
3 820 £20
77 Washington  (south) 75.79
3.19
A1 (M) 2
4 460 £15
78 Clacket Lane   75.77
3.46
M25 4
  700 £12
79 Severn View   75.05
2.03
M4 2
4.5 820 £15
80 Ferrybridge   74.94
3.71
M62 6
4.3 940 £15
81 Maidstone   74.64
3.48
M20 4
4 510 £20
82 Tibshelf   74.36
3.23
M1 3
  890 £12
83 Pont Abraham   73.68
4.09
M4 2
  590 £12
84 Sedgemoor (South)   73.34
3.9
M5 5
  730 £12
85 Bothwell   73.29
4
M74 2
  530 £12
86 Winchester  (north) 72.59
3.22
M3 6
  470 £15
87 Woolley Edge  (north) 72.45
3.5
M1 4
4.5 1190 £15
88 Scotch Corner   72.31
3.5
A1 (M) 6
4 370 £15
89 Heart of Scotland 72.26
3.5
M8 2
  540 £5
90 Birch (west)   72.22
3.8
M62 5
4 620 £15
91 Burton-in-Kendal   72.19
4
M6 5
4 480 £15
92 Medway  (west) 72.14
3.81
M2 5
3.5 760 £15
93 Rownhams   72.10
3.09
M25 2
  760 £12
94 Old Inns 72.10
2
M80 5
  50 £5
95 Burtonwood   71.42
4
M62 3
  1020 £15
96 Woolley Edge  (south) 71.12
3.5
M1 4
4.5 780 £15
97 Knutsford  (north) 71.10
3.5
M6 6
3.8 450 £16
98 Knutsford  (south) 70.97
3.5
M6 6
3.8 410 £16
99 Frankley  (north) 70.23
3.54
M5 4
  480 £15
100 Blackburn with Darwen   70.11
4.25
M65 4
4 150 £30
101 Blyth   70.07
3.13
A1 (M) 5
3.9 430 £15
102 Strensham   68.29
3.3
M5 4
  1580 £12
103 Tebay   67.97
4
M6 5
  550 £12
104 Birch (east)   63.71
3.8
M62 5
  910 £15
105 Pease Pottage   63.30
3.75
M23 6
  340 £15
106 Sandbach   63.24
3.33
M6 3
  480 £12
107 Northampton   63.23
3.4
M1 3
  430 £20
108 Cullompton   59.96
3.24
M5 3
  450 £25
109 Gloucester   55.87
4
M5 6
  970 £12
110 Happendon   50.76
4
M74 2
  520 £8
111 Todhills  (north) 43.87
3.5
M6 1
4 140 £15
112 Todhills  (south) 43.67
3.5
M6 1
4 80 £15

Planning a trip? Use our handy table below to find the best services on your route, click the title of each column to sort rankings by what’s important to you. Business owner? Find a wide range of vans to buy or rent online today.

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