South Mimms Services | |
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Location in Hertfordshire, England | |
Information | |
County | Hertfordshire |
Road | M25 and A1(M) |
Coordinates: | 51°41′13″N0°13′23″W / 51.6869°N 0.2230°W |
Operator | Welcome Break |
Previous operator(s) | Adam & Tim Co. |
Date opened | 24 May 1987 (fuel in December 1986) |
Website | welcomebreak |
South Mimms services is a motorway service area accessible from Junction 23 of the M25 motorway which is also Junction 1 of the A1(M), in England near South Mimms, Hertfordshire. Constructed in 1986 as the first service area on the M25, it is operated by Welcome Break. It is built on the site of Bignell's Corner, named after a garden centre, Bignell and Cutbush, which was close to the junction of the old A6, and A1. [1] [2] [3] At the junction there was also a pub, the Middlesex Arms, and an Esso Motor hotel, near which developed a notorious truck stop and the Beacon Cafe.
On Monday 30 July 1984, the four sites on the M25 were unveiled, including one at Iver, still to be built. [4]
The design announced at the end of March 1986, developed with BP Oil and Welcome Break. Welcome Break was bought by Forte in July 1986. Fuel opened in December 1986. BP claimed that it was the largest petrol forecourt in Europe.
When constructed in December 1986,[ citation needed ] it was the first service area directly accessible from the M25.[ citation needed ]
The 35-acre (14-hectare) service area opened on 24 May 1987.. It cost £7 million, and had conference facilities. There were 27 fuel pumps, for 700 cars, 35 coaches. It had 250 staff. Margaret Thatcher and her husband officially opened the site on 6 June 1987. [5]
In late May 1988, at the site, the new Welcome Break livery was unveiled. [6]
The building was destroyed in August 1998 following a fire started in a deep fryer with no fire suppression system; an incident which has been subsequently studied. [7]
An unusual heist of 2,900 dresses all of the same design occurred in the lorry park at the service area on the morning of 13 August 2013. The loot was valued at £17,000. [8]
The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that South Mimms was in the top five motorway services in the UK for customer satisfaction. [9]
The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The 117-mile-long (188 km) motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the longest ring road in Europe upon opening. The Dartford Crossing completes the orbital route but is not classed as motorway; it is classed as a trunk road and designated as the A282. In some cases, including notable legal contexts such as the Communications Act 2003, the M25 is used as a de facto alternative boundary for Greater London.
The A1, also known as the Great North Road, is the longest numbered road in the United Kingdom, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The numbering system for A-roads, devised in the early 1920s, was based around patterns of roads radiating from two hubs at London and Edinburgh. The first number in the system, A1, was given to the most important part of that system: the road from London to Edinburgh, joining the two central points of the system and linking the UK's (then) two mainland capital cities. It passes through or near north London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Biggleswade, Eaton Socon, Buckden, Peterborough, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Pontefract, York, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
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South Mimms is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of South Mimms and Ridge, in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near to the junction of the M25 motorway with the A1(M) motorway. In 2011 the parish had a population of 855.
Welcome Break Limited is a British motorway service station operator that operates 35 motorway service stations in England, Scotland and Wales. It is the second-largest motorway service area operator behind Moto. It also operates hotels and motels. It is a subsidiary of Irish motorways services operator Applegreen.
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Clacket Lane services is a motorway service station on the M25 motorway midway between junctions 5 and 6, in Surrey, United Kingdom, adjacent to the parish borders between Limpsfield, Surrey and Westerham, Kent, a small village and a town respectively.
Thurrock services is a motorway service station in Thurrock, Essex, serving the M25 motorway, and the Dartford Crossing (A282). It was planned in the mid-1980s and opened after the M25 was completed. Originally popular, the services have gradually deteriorated and have attracted criticism for poor facilities. They have also been a magnet for drug trafficking and other criminal activities.
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Motorway service areas (MSA) also known as services or service stations, are rest areas in the UK and Ireland where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop, use the toilet or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. They are also a safe refuge for drivers who break down alongside leaving at a motorway junction. The vast majority of motorway services in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break and Roadchef. Smaller operators include Extra, Westmorland and EG Group.
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Cobham services is a motorway service area on the M25 motorway in Surrey between junctions 9 and 10. It is operated by Extra MSA and was opened for business on 13 September 2012. Its planned opening date was scheduled to be early 2010, but was changed to early 2012 following various planning issues. The services were constructed as there was concern with the large 65 mile (104 km) gap without any service areas. At either end of that stretch of motorway was South Mimms services and Clacket Lane services, and the Secretary of State explained there was a clear and compelling need for a further service area. The other service area serving the motorway is Thurrock.
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