Welcome Break Rotherham on the M1 in South Yorkshire has been named the best motorway services in the UK, scoring a 99% customer satisfaction rating in a Transport Focus survey of 37,000 motorists.
The site, which opened in January 2025 and is one of the newest motorway services in the country, took the highest score in the charity's poll. More than eight in 10 visitors said they would recommend it.
Survey Covers 123 Sites
The motorway services user survey covered 123 locations and asked visitors about toilets, accessibility, food and drink, facilities for HGV and lorry drivers, and electric vehicle (EV) charging.
Seven other services also achieved a 99% satisfaction rate, including Moto Rugby, Moto Sawtry and Welcome Break Sam Park.
Watford Gap Ranks Last
At the other end of the table, Watford Gap Northbound on the M1 in Northamptonshire, operated by Roadchef, ranked last for overall satisfaction. Its score has fallen 9% since 2023.
Watford Gap's southbound services also featured in the bottom five. The site is the joint oldest motorway services in the country, having opened in November 1959.
Roadchef operates four of the five services with the lowest overall satisfaction. The company has announced more than £300 million of investment across its business over the next five years. Across all of Roadchef's sites, the average score was 93%, which is 3% lower than the joint-top operators Moto and Extra.
Accessibility and HGV Facilities
Louise Collins, director at Transport Focus, said: "Motorway services have improved significantly over the years, and road users are seeing the benefit."
She added: "There is still more to do, including on car parking, wayfinding and facilities for HGV drivers, and our survey will help us track progress in these areas in the years ahead."
Three-quarters of disabled visitors said the services catered well for their impairment, up 13% since 2022, though it remains one of the lowest scores in the survey.
Collins said: "We've also seen real progress on accessibility. It shows what can be achieved when the industry recognises an issue and works together to tackle it."
HGV drivers reported a 90% satisfaction rate with facilities, lower than the general public. Only 54% viewed HGV parking availability positively, 51% said the number of showers was sufficient, and 42% were happy with the value of the parking package.
Value for money was another lower-rated metric, with no services scoring higher than 74% for the value of their food and drink. Overall satisfaction with the value of EV charging was 58%.
