Motorway Services Online

The closed Little Chef at Wansford.

The services listed on this page have been marked on our database as being fully closed. It is by no means a precise list: there are hundreds of roadside eateries and petrol stations that have closed over the years, but we have only included the ones which were in some way remarkable. Most of these were either lost to road construction or rendered redundant by it.

Motorway services are generally too big and busy to totally close, so this list is mostly about smaller A-road sites. There are plenty of examples of motorway services that have been demolished and re-built (Heart of Scotland, Rivington, Northampton) or moved (Strensham, Aust). These don't make the list, and neither do the ones which are part-abandoned (Burtonwood, Markfield, Musselburgh).

If you have Google Earth or another KML reader you can download a map of abandoned services.

Sample list of closed service areas

The following entries are marked as closed in our database:

• Abbots (A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge)
• Aberford (A1 between Knottingley and Wetherby)
• Brechin (A90 between Forfar and Laurencekirk)
• Briton Ferry (A48 Briton Ferry Bypass)
• Godmanchester (A604 near Huntingdon)
• Guildford (A3 near Guildford)
• Kentford (A14 between J38 and J39)
• Kingdom (A92 near M90 J3)
• Kings Worthy (A33 Winchester Bypass)
• Lolworth (A14 between J28A and J29)
• Nacton Heath (A14 eastbound between J57 and J58)
• Newby (A65 between Ingleton and Settle)
• Oaktree (A1 near Bedale)
• Popham (A33) (A33 near Micheldever)
• Rainton (A1 Leeming Lane)
• Red Post (A31 at Bere Regis)
• Redwings (B1043 between Sawtry and Alconbury)
• Swords (M1 at exit 4)
• Wansford (A1 near Wansford)

These sites used to be signposted as official service areas, but no longer are:

• Bassingfield (A52) - signage removed in 2009. It is still shown on OS maps.
• Boroughbridge Morrisons used to be signed from the A1(M) northbound
• Eashing (A3) - was signed southbound until 2016.
• Grand Dale (A63)
• Harlow (A414) - signage was removed in 2010. It is still shown in OS maps.