‘I visited infamous M5 services in Somerset and it felt like a zombie movie’

Motorway services are a necessary evil. Very few of us actually love them, but all those long drives[1] to meet with relatives at Christmas, for example, would be hard to undertake without the opportunity to stop for a sandwich and a coffee at the half-way mark. Travel podcaster David Burnip visited some of the best-known stopping points up and down the country for his Wandering Turnip[2] YouTube channel.

And on the southern leg of his tour he found one that left him feeling as if he was "in a zombie movie". Bridgwater Services[3] in Somerset offers the typical facilities you'll see in services dotted along many of the nation's major traffic arteries. There's a Burger King and a Costa, of course, but for whatever reason it's aroused some very strong reactions.

TripAdvisor reviews for the site are scathing, with some claiming it is the "absolutely worst services". Indeed, it received just 2.5 stars out of 5 from a total of 348 reviews - with 126 of those (the largest proportion) giving it just one star.

David says he was "quite glad" to see that the Costa concession inside the services was closed, because he had seen far too many of them on his trek. But his delight was short-lived. "There's an open Costa as well," he lamented.

He added: "The Costa / Burger King double act. It's too much. Is that what Britain's taste has been reduced to?

Fatty burgers and bad coffee." While there had been a West Cornwall Pasty Company kiosk just outside the main entrance, it had been closed down.

The services can be infernally busy in the summer months but it was virtually deserted when David visited. "This place is a bit of a ghost town," he said. "I can't imagine people spend too long here at all." Despite Bridgwater services' colossal car-park, there's not much to offer inside.

David went on: "This place is tiny. There really isn't much there." When he stepped into the services' giant car park, he couldn't see a car in sight and said "I felt like I was in a zombie movie".

He went on: "Why would you build something this big for such a tiny tiny service station."

The entire site is something of a wasteland, he said: "Devoid of people, devoid of life. It seems devoid of staff. ...I don't know where they are." He pointed out that, like an awful lot of motorway services, Bridgwater has a completely blank advertising hoarding that's been left unused.

In a final analysis, David gave the services ranked as 'one of the worst service stations" in the country a brutal grade: "What am I rating this one out of 10?" He said: "You're probably going to be a two.

This one's got a two."

References

1. ^ those long drives (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
2. ^ Wandering Turnip (www.youtube.com)
3. ^ Bridgwater Services (www.somersetlive.co.uk)