On the mean and moody motorways of Great Britain, the often maligned service station is often criticised, but not all services are the same, and in a huge survey some are actually commended.

A poll of almost 10,000 motorists by Transport Focus on user satisfaction found that the smaller motorway service operators were usually the best option for drivers, in a poll which traditionally looks at the best service station overall.

Pandemic lockdown has given a different look to Transport Focus’ poll in 2020, rather than award an overall winner from the 112 service stations, instead they have named the best operators, with Extra and Westmorland deemed top of the class with overall satisfaction scores of 97 per cent.

Extra and Westmorland operate 14 service stations between them across many different areas of the UK road network, making up just 13 per cent of the entire services network. In third place was Euro Garages, which has seen significant improvement in their 2019 satisfaction score, moving up from 86 per cent to 96 per cent.

Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “As the country emerges out of lockdown and people take to the roads for staycations this summer, motorway services will provide a vital opportunity for drivers to take a break on their journey.

“Motorway services provide customers with a great experience with friendly and helpful staff, but there is still room for improvement when it comes to the value for money of the food and drink on offer.”

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