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Content:
Clacket Lane
MSO Home - Services List - Clacket Lane
RoadChef services, M25 between J5 and J6
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Road: M25
Junction: Between J5 and J6
Operator: RoadChef
Location: Kent TN16 2ER
Telephone: 01959 565577
Signed from the motorway? Yes
Previous operators: none
Previous names: Titsey Woods
Services type: Two sites located between junctions, with no public connection between them.
Official website: Visit RoadChef's official website
Clacket Lane consists of two large services on the M25 and they're a popular stopping point for coaches and lorries.
Choose a section: Main Page | Location, Map & Directions
Facilities:
Key: westbound only | eastbound only
General: Pay Phones, BT Openzone, Children's Play Area
Food/Drink: Costa Coffee, RestBite, Fonebitz, Wimpy, Pizza Hut Express, O'briens
Shopping: WH Smith
Fuel: Total (pump types unknown)
Motel: Premier Inn
Photos:
Click on a photo to view the full size. If you have one to add, contact me. It's never too late to get your name in the limelight.
 | The front of the services. Photo taken whilst travelling westbound in 2008 by Julian P Guffogg. It's used under this Creative Commons |
Trivia:
Until the opening of Folkestone services, Clacket Lane westbound was often said to be the largest services in the country. At one point it also had the most expensive fuel!
They are said to be on the northern edge of the North Downs, and as you head westwards they are the start of a long section of the M25 which has no services.
The original planning application for the services had them down as 'Titsey Woods', but this was changed for no known reason (although it's often claimed that RoadChef feared that no-one would take the name 'Titsey services' seriously), so they went for Clacket Lane instead - which appears to be a last minute-decision to name it after the road which provides the emergency exits.
In each amenity building there is a large cabinet titled 'The History of Titsey Woods', which has several Roman artefacts which were discovered whilst the services were constructed.
In some countries it is legal for lorries to park on the hard shoulder up to a mile before a service area, but this isn't the case in the UK and as Clacket Lane is the first between-junction services after the Channel Tunnel/Port of Dover, there are bilingual signs on the exit to the services reading 'no stopping' to try and stop drivers from doing this.
As RoadChef expanded the site, the sliproads became incredibly short so they were eventually extended to improve safety, leaving four very clear 'ghost exits' on the carriageway. It also explains why the access roads through the services feel like you're on a sliproad when in reality you're in the middle of the services.
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: | Good |
| Outdoor facilities: | Acceptable |
| Access and indoor facilities: | Acceptable |
| Catering: | Acceptable |
| Shop: | Very Good |
| Service: | Good |
| Family Friendliness: | Acceptable |
| Hygiene: | Acceptable |
| Pricing: | Very Poor |
| Final Score: | Acceptable |
The services were said to be well supervised with a good range of items in the shop and restaurant. The food wasn't tasty though, it had no picnic benches or indoor play area, it was very expensive and it was described as dirty, with the fold-away baby changing tables being described as "hazardous to health".
The services were also inspected by the AA on the 3rd and 4th of April 2004. These are their results:
| Category: | Rating: |
| Road safety and parking: | Good |
| Outdoor facilities: | Acceptable |
| Access and indoor facilities: | Good |
| Catering: | Acceptable |
| Shop: | Very Good |
| Service: | Acceptable |
| Communications: | Very Poor |
| Hygiene: | Very Poor |
| Pricing: | Very Poor |
| Final Score: | Poor |
In this test, the services were said to be well prepared and tasty. Again, the variety of stock in the shop was brought up, but again the services were described as "extremely dirty". The shop was expensive and the staff were unfriendly, too.
Parking Prices:
Vehicle: | For up to 2 hours: | For 2 hours to 24 hours: |
| Cars: | FREE | unknown |
| HGVs & Carvans: | FREE | unknown |
| Coaches: | FREE | unknown |
The above prices are intended to be a guide only. Tickets must be renewed after 24 hours, and can be obtained from the 'Pay & Display' meters located in each car park. | ||
Alternatives:
- Fleet Welcome Break services on the M3, 48 miles to the west.
- Pease Pottage Moto services on the M23, 22 miles to the west.
- Wisley services on the A3, 26 miles to the west.
- Maidstone RoadChef services on the M20, 26 miles to the east.
- Thurrock Moto services on the M25, 18 miles to the east.
- Medway Moto services on the M2, 30 miles to the east.
Main Page | Location, Map & Directions
AA survey results from the Automobile Association, you can view the full report and what they were looking for in this PDF document for the 2007 test, or this one for the 2004 results.