When hitting England’s motorways, there will come a time when you need to rest – particularly if you’re part way through a very long journey. In fact, van drivers are required to take a 45-minute break for every 4.5 hours they’re on the road.But where are the best and worst places to stop? Here’s a rundown of motorway services that do and don’t tick the right boxes.
A Motorway Services User Survey carried out by independent transport user watchdog Transport Focus has revealed the best motorway services.
Voted England’s best motorway services in 2019 for the second year running, Norton Canes (Roadchef) on the M6 toll received a satisfaction rate of 99%. This means customers were happy with the service, food and drink, helpfulness of staff and toilet cleanliness among other important factors. Transport Focus asked 11,600 customers about their experiences at 111 motorway services in England, so to top the list is quite an achievement.
Highest ranked services also included Heston Westbound (M4), Gloucester Southbound (M5), Stafford Northbound (M6) and South Mimms (M25), all of which received a 99% satisfaction rating. Of the 111 service stations polled, 33 received a satisfaction score of 95% or above which shows that while there are excellent service stations, there’s still work to be done.
Unless you’re running out of petrol and need to stop urgently, many drivers aim to avoid motorway services that are unhygienic or have poor customer service. That’s why it’s a good idea to pay attention to surveys from independent bodies such as Transport Focus, which can help make your breaks a much more pleasant experience.
The lowers ranked Motorway services in England for 2019 include Charnock Richard southbound (M6) with a customer satisfaction rate of just 77%, Frankley Southbound (M5) with a customer satisfaction rate of 75%, Cullompton (M5) that satisfied only 74% of customers, Burtonwood (M62) with a disappointing 73% of happy customers and Severn View (M48) with a satisfaction rate of 72%.
Thurrock (Moto) was previously one of the worst service stations to stop in the whole of England having received a 68% satisfaction rate in 2018. It has recently undergone a refurbishment, however, which has increased the satisfaction rate by 25 percentage points with the service station now rocking an incredible 93% satisfaction rate according to the latest survey. That’s a huge improvement. Westmorland, operator of four sites in the survey, achieved the highest overall satisfaction score (98%).
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