Skelton Lake services (also known as Leeds Skelton Lake services) is a

motorway service area 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 va ...

operated by

Extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

, on 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 ...

near

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It is located on Junction 45 of the Motorway which also links into the A63 (into Leeds). It lies on the south side of the motorway; however, the junction affords access to, and from, all directions.

History

The M1/A1 link road between Leeds (now Junction 43 of the M1) and the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

at Hook Moor, opened in February 1999. Although the slip roads were built in 1999, it was ten years before Junction 45 was opened to lead along a dual carriageway (designated the A63) westwards into Leeds. Extra submitted an application to build a service station in the area (known as Skelton Grange) in 2005, which was rejected by the government. A second set of amended plans were lodged with

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

in spring 2016, and permission for the site was granted in early 2017, with an interim bill of £50 million.

Morgan Sindall Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading British Construction & Regeneration group, headquartered in London employing around 6,700 employees and operating in the public, regulated and private sectors. It reports through six divisions of Constructio ...

were appointed as builders and by 2018, the bill was estimated at £60 million, with a projected opening date of summer 2019. Situated at junction 45 of the M1 motorway and the A63 road interchange, the site is east of Leeds and construction started in the summer of 2018. The £64 million service station opened in March 2020 with just the general shop and fuelling station from the outset due to the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The station was billed as the greenest motorway service station in the United Kingdom, having a "living roof", access to the nature reserve at St Aidan's, and a viewing platform overlooking Skelton Lake. Skelton Lake covers , and is a remnant of opencast coaling operations in the area. The design of the station, particularly its roof, reflects the green corridor that site sits in. The site, which saw 400 jobs during the construction phase, and now employs 300 people, also has a 100-bedroom hotel. As the site is located off Junction 45 of the M1, it is accessible in both directions of the motorway and from the A63.

References

External links

MSA online website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton Lake services 2020 establishments in England M1 motorway service stations Extra motorway service stations Buildings and structures in West Yorkshire Transport in West Yorkshire

Services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...