Motorway service area for proposed motorway service areas. The NRA held a competition to determine an operator for the first round of service areas to be opened. Superstop, a consortium consisting of Petrogas (Applegreen) and Tedcastles Oil Products (TOP), won the contract. The first service area, Lusk services, opened on the M1 on 8 September 2010. Castlebellingham services (also on the M1) opened on 29 September 2010, with Enfield services on the M4 opening shortly after in late 2010. The fourth service area, Wicklow services station (J14, M11) opened on 29 May 2014. While other locations for service areas were planned by the
Motorway service area M40 junction 2 respectively. In 1992, the system was changed so that the developer became responsible for choosing the site of a motorway service area, and consequently junction sites became the preferred option as they are cheaper to construct, as well as being accessible to traffic travelling in several directions. Following a public consultation in 2007/8, the Department for Transport/Highways Agency announced that new services should be located at "on-line" sites, unless a junction site is the only possibility. The siting of motorway service areas can be contentious, leading to protracted public inquiries, and often vociferous local campaigns against proposed