Motorway service area Motorway service area Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom, also known as 'service stations' or 'services', are places where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vast majority of motorway services in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break and Roadchef. Smaller operators include Extra, Westmorland and EuroGarages. The first service area in the UK was at Watford Gap on the M1, which opened with the motorway on 2 November 1959. As more service stations opened, the number of operating companies
Motorway service area in other ways. Under the terms of the leases, motorway services must provide free short-term parking (2 hours), free 24-hour toilet facilities, and adequate provision for the sale of food and fuel 24 hours a day. Ireland has four motorway service areas – initially the National Roads Authority opposed them on the grounds that it preferred to see traffic using existing businesses in bypassed towns, and that the motorway network was not large enough for them anyway. However, in 2006 it changed its mind, and the "Roads Act 2007" makes provision for a "Motorway Service Area Scheme" to be made