For many Brits, a crucial part of any long-distance car journey is planning out the motorway services stations to stop off at along the way.
While most of us will probably admit that we don’t usually visit service stations for fun, they often provide us with a necessary pit stop as somewhere to stretch our legs, use the loo, refill the car and grab a bite to eat before we head back on the road again.
What would we do without them?
Out of all the service stations that are dotted across the country though, which one is rated as the best? And which is the worst?
In preparation for the further easing of national lockdown restrictions over the coming months, leading consumer choice company, Which?, recruited 5,600 people to rate a total of 68 UK service stations in a number of categories, including the range and quality of shops and food outlets, prices, convenience, parking, accessibility, cleanliness and ease of maintaining social distancing, and more.
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The customer score for each service station combines the overall satisfaction and likelihood of recommending.
Where do you think is the UK's best motorway service station?
Topping the list as the best motorway service station in the UK is Gloucester Services – between junctions 11A and 12 on the M5 – which received a whopping four out of five stars for all categories, with a customer score of 86%.
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One visitor said it was “as far from a typical motorway stop as you can imagine”, with other customers praising its “fabulous” farm shop selling home-cooked meals and local produce.
At the other end of the scale though is the Moto-owned Bridgwater Services in Somerset, which ranked the worst in Britain by Which? after it was awarded just one star out of five for all categories analysed and received an overall customer score of just 32%.
Recent visitors described the venue as “dirty” and “depressing”, and others complained of a urine smell and toilet paper strewn on the floor.
Speaking on the unveiling of best and worst UK service stations, Rory Boland – Editor of Magazine Which? Travel – said: “The results of our survey show that it pays to plan ahead to avoid some of the UK’s worst motorway services.
“It could be the difference between a home-cooked meal in peaceful surroundings or crowded queues in downright dirty facilities.
“Whether you’re zipping down the M5 towards the beaches on the south-west coast, or up the M6 towards the Scottish border, make sure your journey isn’t spoiled by a stop at a shoddy service station.”
Top 5 Best Motorway Service Stations in the UK
Gloucester Services (86%)
Tebay Services (83%)
Cairn Lodge Services (69%)
Norton Canes Services (65%)
Wetherby Services (61%)
Top 5 Worst Motorway Service Stations in the UK
Bridgwater Services (32%)
Gordano Services (40%)
Newport Pagnell Services (41%)
Sandbach Services (42%)
Keele Services (42%)
In response to placing last in the rankings, Ken McMeikan – CEO of Moto – said: “I am appalled by the score at our Bridgwater site.
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“This does not reflect the standards we aspire to across all of our sites and I can absolutely guarantee that all of the issues raised will be dealt with immediately to ensure we get Bridgwater back to the standard we know our customers expect and deserve.”
What do you think to this list then? Do you agree?
You can find the full rankings of the best and worst motorway service stations in the UK via the Which? website here.
Featured Image – Gloucester Services | Bridgewater Services
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8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
6th April 2021 
