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Content:
Norton Canes
From Motorway Services Online
| Norton Canes | |
| RoadChef | |
View pictures (11) | |
| Road: | M6 Toll between JT6 and JT7 (also accessible via the A5 and B4154) |
| Address: | Road Chef Norton Canes M S A Bettys Lane Norton Canes Cannock Staffordshire WS11 9UX |
| Telephone number: | 01543 272540 |
| Signposted from the road? | Yes |
| Opened: | 2004 |
| Grid reference: | SK023074 |
| Services type: | Single site located between junctions with access to both sides. |
| Visit Norton Canes/RoadChef's official website | |
Located off its own unnumbered junction, Norton Canes is one of the newest motorway services in the UK. It's very popular and very busy, and is well landscaped, with fountains and picnic benches located around it.
Contents |
Facilities
General: Picnic Tables, BT Openzone, Traffic Information
Restaurants: RestBite, Wimpy, Costa Coffee
Shops: WH Smith, Fonebitz
Fuel: BP (pump types unknown)
Motel: Premier Inn[book rooms]
Parking Prices
First two hours free for all vehicles, after which HGVs must pay £16, or £18 to include a £10 food voucher.
Further information is not available, please update this if you know.
Trivia
One of RoadChef's most profitable sites, Norton Canes is quite possibly the only service area where traffic from the local area and A5 road can come in and park up in a separate car park. Normally such things are possible but illegal.
The food is served in a new 'cook to order' and 'proper' style, taking 10 minutes to cook and pleasing the BBC's 'The Money Programme', but it costed nearly £50 to feed a family of four! It also featured in their 'Top Gear' in 2004.
The site occupies 68 acres, and it opened on the 9th March 2004, a few months after the motorway itself. The parking areas can accommodate 350 cars, 52 lorries, 25 coaches and 6 caravans, in addition to a 110-space overflow car park (which is used much more than you'd think, see the photos).
The services were first proposed in 1993 as part of the toll road project and were initially rejected by the council on environmental grounds.
Survey Results
The services were inspected by the AA on the 24th and 25th of March 2007. These are their results:
| Category: | Rating: |
| Road safety and parking: | Very Good |
| Outdoor facilities: | Acceptable |
| Access and indoor facilities: | Good |
| Catering: | Acceptable |
| Shop: | Very Good |
| Family Friendliness: | Very Poor |
| Service: | Very Good |
| Hygiene: | Very Good |
| Pricing: | Very Poor |
| Final Score: | Acceptable |
The services were said to be spacious with a good variety of food, but the food was not tasty and required plastic cutlery, and for a new build it had no outdoor play area and a poor indoor one.
In 2006, Holiday Which? visited and rated the services at 4/5, they liked the individuality of the products for sale.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| none on M6 Toll Stafford (North) (M6 northbound, 20 miles) Stafford (South) (M6 southbound, 19 miles) Telford (M54, 21 miles) | Services on the M6 Toll |
none on M6 Toll Corley (M6, 29 miles) Warwick (M40, 47 miles) Tamworth (M42 north, 16 miles) |
| Sandbach (M6, 41 miles) Stafford (South) (M6 southbound, 19 miles) | RoadChef services | Watford Gap (M1 south, 50 miles) |
Comments and Reviews
With thanks to AA survey footer for 2007.