Leicester Forest East services is a motorway service station situated between

junctions Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

21 and 21A of the M1 motorway, near

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, England.

History

It was designed for the opening of the second phase of the M1 in 1966 (seven years after the first phase was completed), based on an Italian design used on the

Autostrade The Autostrade (; singular ) are roads forming the Italian national system of motorways. The total length of the system is about . In North and Central Italy, the Autostrade mainly consists of tollways managed by Autostrade per l'Italia, a ho ...

. This design is very rare in Britain.

Construction

Work was to start in November 1963, and the site was to open in November 1964.The contract was awarded on Friday 21 August 1964 to R.M. Douglas Construction Ltd of

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

. The architect was Howard V Lobb.

Opening

It was opened on Friday 6 May 1966 by Sir Cyril Osborne, the MP for

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

Food

The services features a

bridge-restaurant A bridge restaurant or restaurant bridge is a restaurant, usually indoors, built like a bridge over a road, mostly over freeways or motorways. It usually provides access from both sides of the road without the need of crossing the road by tunnel or ...

, between the two bases crossing the motorway, containing all of the service station's restaurants. At the time of opening it was operated by the

Ross Group The Ross Group was a British food company founded in Grimsby, England in 1920. The Ross brand remains prominent in the retail frozen fish market. David Ross, the co-founder and significant shareholder in mobile telephone retailer The Carphon ...

and featured a Terence Conran designed restaurant with a waitress silver service

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

. Ross Group had carried out research in the US, Canada and in Europe. The whole site seated 800 people. * The Captain's Table Restaurant * Two transport cafes, seating 105

Buildings

It would have parking for 200 vehicles.

Description

It contains a number of shops and

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

outlets straddling the motorway. There is no legal vehicular access to the motorway service station from nearby

Leicester Forest East Leicester Forest East (LFE) is a large suburban village in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester, straddling the M1 motorway. It is part of the Blaby district. Leicester Forest East is a popular location among commuters and young famili ...

, although there is nothing physically stopping cars from exiting to the A47.

Proposed closure

Leicester Forest East services faced permanent closure in 2017 if the M1/ M69 junction had been developed to increase capacity to accommodate predicted traffic growth.

References

External links

University of Leicester Centre for English Local History blogMotorway Services Online — The Rise and Fall of Leicester Forest EastMotorway Services Online — Leicester Forest East Services
1966 establishments in England M1 motorway service stations Welcome Break motorway service stations Buildings and structures in Leicestershire Transport in Leicestershire {{Leicestershire-struct-stub