UK’s worst and best motorway service stations

UK motorway service stations haven’t had the best reputation historically, but according to a new survey released by independent watchdog Transport Focus, things are getting better. 

Although Transport Focus does add the caveat that survey methods have ‘evolved’ since its first motorway services report in 2017, it points out the dramatically narrowing gap between the best and worst rated services in the UK. In 2017, there was a 38 per cent gap between best (100 per cent) and worst (62 per cent), which is now down to just 13 per cent (86 to 99).

The watchdog cites investment across the network as a key factor, with money spent on both improving existing facilities and also building entirely new locations. Key areas of motorway service station development include food and retail offerings, electric vehicle charging and toilet facilities. On the latter front, accessibility for disabled users is said to have improved notably.

123 sites were surveyed across the four main UK operators – Moto, Extra, Roadchef and Welcome Break. When looking at the best-rated motorway services, it’s worth pointing out that the family-owned Gloucester Services company, which has many award-winning sites and is known for its farm shops, did not take part in the Transport Focus survey. 

UK’s worst motorway services 

We’re betting you’ll be more interested in the worst-rated motorway services, though, so you know which ones to skip on your next drive home. It looks as though Roadchef has some work to do, because of the bottom five rated locations, four belong to the group, and it has six in the bottom 10. By contrast, it doesn’t have a single site in the top five, and only one in the top 10. 

Roadchef’s Watford Gap Northbound was rated as the worst out of 126, and although an 86 per cent score doesn’t sound too bad, it has suffered a nine per cent drop in the satisfaction rate since the last survey. Neighbouring Watford Gap Southbound didn’t fare much better, placing fifth from bottom.

UK’s best motorway services 

At the other end of the scale, it looks to be a success story for newly built services, with the first and third-place finishers being brand-new facilities that weren’t around at the time of the last survey. All of the top 5 were rated at 99 per cent for satisfaction, but it was Welcome Break’s Rotherham Services, which first opened in January 2025, that edged ahead of the others. 

Louise Collins, Transport Focus director, said: 

“Motorway services are somewhere millions of us rely on to stop, rest and reset during a journey. The fact that the experience has become not just better, but more consistently good across the network, is real progress. 

I think our survey has played a part. It has provided a consistent benchmark, showing what customers value and where there is more work to do. But the biggest credit belongs to the industry for responding. 

We can see that particularly clearly this year. The site that was at the bottom of our table in 2023 [Hartstead Moor Eastbound] is now rated 97 per cent by its visitors. It isn’t a shiny new development. It shows what can be achieved at an existing site when attention and effort are focused on the things customers notice.”

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