Fleet Services is a

motorway service station Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

on the M3 near

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach ...

. It is owned by

Welcome Break Welcome Break is a British motorway service station operator that operates 35 motorway service stations in the UK. It is the second-largest motorway service area operator behind Moto. It also operates hotels and motels. It is a subsidiary of ...

History

Opened in 1973, it was originally built in a

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n style and in 1992 won Loo of the Year Award. Before 2001, when Winchester services opened, it was the only service station on the M3. In 2006, it was one of the first service stations to carry the new

corporate identity A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...

for

, and along with it came a new Burger King franchise, which then made Fleet Services one of the few motorway service stations to have a Burger King, a KFC and a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

co-exist at the same service station. The McDonald's was part of a 1995 Welcome Break campaign to roll out franchises throughout its chain, but when Welcome Break's parent company was taken over by

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, the latter's rival franchise of Burger King was instead introduced throughout the chain, but Fleet services (and Woodall), part of the original plan, continued to carry McDonald's despite this. However, the McDonald's closed in March 2020.

Fleet cheat

Fleet services were well known for the 'Fleet cheat' in which drivers took a back exit to the northbound side, which is meant for access by authorised vehicles only (as indicated by two no-entry signs with the aforementioned exception information underneath it), from Pale Lane in order to avoid traffic queues from the motorway. Because of a loophole in legislation, in which the original purpose of the signs cannot be enforced as if it were part of a public highway, thereby only falling under trespassing, people that took the 'Fleet cheat' could not be prosecuted in the normal way for violating these signs. In the 2000s, bollards were installed to prevent unauthorised access, but these bollards often malfunctioned, so ANPR cameras were added in July 2010, which then signalled the end of the 'Fleet cheat'. Chapter 6

art I Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

of Joseph Rogers' short biographical ''Running. Nothing. Something.'' details walking the Fleet cheat to nearby Elvetham Heath.

Scott Mills Bridge

The Scott Mills Bridge was officially named on 16 March 2016. The naming followed a campaign by the Scott Mills Show's co-presenter

Chris Stark Christopher Francis Stark (born 12 March 1987) is a British radio personality known for his work most recently as a co-host on the ''Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 until he departed in 2022. He currently works on Capital FM's Breakfast Show ...

to get things named after the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

presenter. A plaque was unveiled at the site by Stark.

2016 fire

A large fire broke out, caused by a faulty coffee machine in KFC on the evening of 14 December 2016, damaging at least 60% of the building but not resulting in any human injuries. The southbound carriageway of the M3 was closed and more than 100 firefighters attended from Hampshire and Surrey. A customer on site at the time the fire broke out said it appeared to have started in a coffee machine and that staff reacted slowly. A temporary building opened on 23 March 2017 to serve as the southbound services whilst the fire damaged building was demolished and rebuilt. The rebuilt services building opened on 6 September 2018 and included Burger King, KFC, Pizza Express, Tossed, Harry Ramsdens, WHSmith and Little Waitrose. Additionally a number of Tesla and Ecotricity charging stations are being installed in the car parking area. Tossed and Harry Ramsdens were removed in 2020 and were replaced by Chopstix Noodle Bar and The Good Breakfast.

References

External links

Welcome Break Official Site - FleetMotorway Services Online - Fleet
{{UK Motorway Service Stations M3 motorway service stations Welcome Break motorway service stations 1973 establishments in England Transport in Hampshire Hart District