Leicester Forest East 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 ...

situated between junctions 21 and 21A of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

, 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 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

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 Sir Cyril Osborne (19 June 1898 – 31 August 1969) was a Justice of the Peace for Leicestershire and a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Louth constituency in Lincolnshire from 1945 to his death. B ...

, 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 * Cou ...

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 Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran " ...

designed restaurant with a waitress

silver service Silver service (in British English) is a method of foodservice at the table, with waiter transferring food from a serving dish to the guest's plate, always from the left. It is performed by a waiter by using service forks and spoons from the dine ...

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