Strensham

Strensham
Roadchef
27 more photos in the gallery
Road:	M5 between J7 and J8
Address:	Roadchef Motorways Ltd Strensham M5 Service Area Strensham Hillcroome Upton-upon-Severn Worcester Worcestershire WR8 0BZ
Telephone number:	01684 293004 (northbound) 01984 290577 (southbound)
Signposted from the road?	As McDonald's/Costa
Opened:	1962
Previous operators:	Kenning Motor Group, Take-a-Break
Grid reference:	SO893407 (northbound) SO903399 (southbound)
Services type:	Two sites staggered between junctions, with no public connection between them.
Visit Strensham/Roadchef's official website Facebook Page Twitter: @Strensham

Strensham is a popular and modern service station, especially the southbound side. The southbound side holds a whole new list of brands including WHSmith and McDonald's as part of a successful trial which is to be rolled out at all Roadchef services.

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Facilities

Northbound

General: BT WiFi, Game On, Jackpot £500, Meeting Room, Traffic Information
Restaurants: Soho Coffee Co. & Grill, McDonald's, Costa, Pizza Hut Express
Shops: WHSmith (with Costa Express Krispy Kreme), Fone Bitz, Cotton Traders
Fuel: Texaco (with: Star Market Krispy Kreme Subway FloGas LPG)
Motel: Days Inn^{[book rooms]}

Southbound

General: BT WiFi, Game On, Jackpot £500, Picnic Tables, Traffic Information
Restaurants: Soho Coffee Co., Hot Food Co., McDonald's, Costa, Pasty Presto
Shops: WHSmith (with Costa Express Krispy Kreme), Fone Bitz, Cotton Traders
Fuel: BP (with: Wild Bean Café)
Motel: northbound Days Inn^{[book rooms]} motel accessible via bridge

Parking Prices

First two hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £10 and HGVs, caravans and coaches £22, or £24 to include a £10 food voucher.

Prices are paid using PayByPhone - more details or in the shop or restaurant. The location code is 5261 (northbound) and 5262 (southbound).

The fees are strictly enforced by CP Plus.

Trivia

The two sides of the services are a good mile apart. Originally the services were built just like any other, if a little close to M5 J8. During the early 90s the M5 here was widened and J8 improved, bringing it closer to the services. This was used as a chance to move the northbound site further north, and the old northbound site became a works depot, and the southbound site's exit was been changed so that traffic leaving the services is thrown onto J8, rather than trying to merge onto a motorway which is full of traffic trying to leave. There is an extra lane between J8 and the northbound services, giving us a very rare scenario where there is a lane drop into a service area.

The northbound site has an air ambulance base which was built in 1998, and when Roadchef grasped hold of the services in the late '90s they bulldozed the southbound site and replaced it with something much more modern. Today this is the operator's busiest and most profitable service area, with Norton Canes coming a close second.

The original plan for the new southbound services included a mini-roundabout at the entrance to the car park, but this was changed as it would involve traffic coming up the sliproad to give way to people leaving the car park, potentially causing queues back on to the motorway.

The services in the floods

As part of the refurbishment, the signs for both services now read 'McDonald's Costa' rather than the usual 'Roadchef Costa Coffee'. The refurbishment cost £1.6million.

In 2005 there were plans to build a motel at the northern edge of the southbound services, but these were rejected, partially because the services were already struggling to keep up with demand. Instead, the area was used as an overflow car park.

The services were the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary called 'Motorway Madness', which aired in October 2010 on Five.

In 1991 the services were thought to be one of the worst in Britain with staff morale at an all-time low. This was quickly turned around.

As of 2010, the southbound services are significantly busier than the northbound ones, attracting approximately 3% more traffic.

BP operate the southbound filling station with Roadchef themselves operating the northbound Texaco.

Plan

Click on the plans to enlarge to maximum resolution. The Historical 2005 Plan is of Strensham Southbound and cannot be enlarged

Survey Results

In May 2012, Visit England rated the northbound services as 4 stars and southbound as 3 stars.

This was reversed in August 2011, where they rated the southbound services as 4 stars (commenting on its choice of seating) and the northbound side as 3 stars (commenting on its ease of use by businesses).

Alternatives

With thanks to the user 'grizzle' for the information used on this page.