M25 motorway "Inside the M25" and "outside/beyond the M25" are colloquial, looser alternatives to "Greater London" sometimes used in haulage. The Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses the M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area. Two motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are directly accessible from it. Those on the M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 (in the south-east) and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 (in the south-west). Those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 (to the north of London)
M25 motorway "rings" around the capital. Sections of the two outer rings – Ringway 3 (the 'M16 motorway') and Ringway 4 – were constructed in the early 1970s and were integrated into the single M25 orbital motorway. But the Ringways plan was hugely controversial owing to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads, (Ringway 1 and Ringway 2). Parts of Ringway 1 were constructed (including West Cross Route), against stiff opposition, before the overall plan was abandoned in 1973 following pressure from residents in the threatened areas. Construction of parts of the two outer ring roads, Ringways 3 and 4,