‘I visited notorious M5 services and was left gobsmacked when I saw car park’

Motorway services are a necessary evil. Few of us actually relish them, but those lengthy drives[1] to visit relatives at Christmas, for instance, would be challenging without the chance to pause for a sandwich and a coffee halfway. Travel podcaster David Burnip embarked on a tour of some of the most well-known pit stops across the country for his Wandering Turnip[2] YouTube[3] channel.

During the southern leg of his journey, he stumbled upon one that left him feeling as though he was "in a zombie movie". Bridgwater Services, on the M5 in Somerset[4], provides the usual amenities you'd find in services scattered along many of the nation's major traffic routes. There's a Burger King and a Costa, naturally, but it has provoked some rather strong reactions for some reason.

TripAdvisor reviews for the site are damning, with some labelling it as the "absolutely worst services". In fact, it garnered just 2.5 stars out of 5 from a total of 348 reviews - with 126 of those (the largest proportion) awarding it a mere one star.

David expressed that he was "quite glad" to see that the Costa concession within the services was shut, having seen far too many of them on his journey. However, his joy was fleeting.

"There's an open Costa as well," he bemoaned. He continued: "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." Whilst a West Cornwall Pasty Company kiosk had previously operated just beyond the main entrance, it had since shut down.

The services can become extremely busy during the summer months, but when David paid a visit, it was almost completely empty. "This place is a bit of a ghost town," he remarked.

"I can't imagine people spend too long here at all." Despite Bridgwater services' enormous car park, there's precious little on offer inside. David continued: "This place is tiny.

There really isn't much there." Upon entering the services' vast car park, he couldn't spot a single vehicle and said "I felt like I was in a zombie movie". He added: "Why would you build something this big for such a tiny tiny service station."

The whole site resembles something of a wasteland, he observed: "Devoid of people, devoid of life.

It seems devoid of staff. ...I don't know where they are." He noted that, similar to a great many motorway services, Bridgwater has a completely blank advertising billboard that's been left unutilised. In his final assessment, David awarded the services, ranked as 'one of the worst service stations' in the country, a harsh score. "What am I rating this one out of 10?" he asked. "You're probably going to be a two.

This one's got a two."

References

1. ^ lengthy drives (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^ Wandering Turnip (www.youtube.com)
3. ^ YouTube (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
4. ^ on the M5 in Somerset (www.bristolpost.co.uk)