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November 2022 - Transport & Infrastructure

Survey reveals the worst service stations in the UK as voted for by visitors: A survey of visitors to UK service stations has revealed the best and worst across England, Scotland and Wales, with Welcome Break’s Hartshead Moor services near Bradford, performing worst of all.

The survey by Transport Focus polled 31,000 people who had visited 119 service stations in total, rating them for cleanliness of toilets, value for money of refreshments, staff, electric vehicle charging and the impact the visit had on their mood.

The average satisfaction score was 93%, including 61% who said they were very satisfied, while just 3% overall said they were fairly dissatisfied. Overall, 88% of visitors were satisfied with the toilets, while 63% said that value for money of refreshments was good (including responses that said 'fairly' or 'very'). Almost a third of respondents (31%) said that when they arrived at the services, they felt tired stressed or frustrated, whereas just 7% said the same about when they left.

Hartshead Moor, which is located on the Lancashire to Yorkshire M62 motorway, received a satisfaction score of 80%, ranking lowest out of all the stations surveyed, with the toilets being satisfactory to just three-quarters of respondents. Also in the bottom five were Lancashire's Lancaster South (83%) and Charnock Richard South (83%), along with Birchanger Green (83%) and Warwick South (84%).

The best performing service station was Moto's Rugby services on the M6 in Warwickshire, scoring an impressive 100%, with Blackburn with Darwen on the M65 also ranking in the top five along with Donington Park, Strensham North and Medway East, all with a score of 99%.

A spokesperson for Transport Focus said: “Our survey shows motorway service operators deliver good overall customer experience and facilities, but visitors don’t always feel they get value for money.

“Services continue to do a good job of their most important safety function – allowing drivers to rest and relax before getting back on the road.”

A spokesperson for Welcome Break said the company was “very disappointed” with Hartshead Moor’s low score.

“We have received the detailed comments from Transport Focus and we will be working closely with our teams to address the feedback from the report as well as prioritising the site for future investment.”

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