Customers deterred by 'horrendous' food prices: Deregulating the provision of new service areas on motorways has led to renewed demands for cheaper, greener and more relaxing stops
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Your support makes all the difference.THE SKIDMORE family sat in their car tucking into home-made cheese and pickle sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, unimpressed by the enticing food displays at Michaelwood Services. 'Everything is far too expensive,' Robert Skidmore said, writes Mike Prestage.
Complaints about the high cost were shared by holidaymakers and business travellers alike at the motorway service station, one of seven on the M5 between Birmingham and Exeter.
Ken Armstrong, driving a National Express coach between Penzance and Hull, said: 'What they charge people is absolutely horrendous. With a family you need a second mortgage to eat here.' A veteran of service stations, he rated Michaelwood high for its cleanliness and range. His favourite is at Tamworth on the M42.
Most visitors taking a break were not as well prepared as the Skidmores. They queued for the fast-food takeaway or went to the Granary restaurant. Here in an average month 24,000 cooked breakfasts and 17,000 pots of tea will be served. In the same period, the petrol forecourt dispenses more than 430,000 gallons of fuel. The service area on a 20-acre site near Dursley, in rural Gloucestershire, is an important local employer. In the summer high season up to 60,000 visitors a week are tended by 250 staff working round-the-clock shifts.
Donna Porter, the acting deputy manager, joined Welcome Break, which runs Michaelwood, from school 11 years ago. She has seen many changes. 'When I first joined it was fish and chips and tea ladled out of a big urn. Now there is a wide range; we even have four speciality teas.'
An Egon Ronay survey in 1990 placed the service area fifth in the country, with the top 14 places all going to Welcome Break outlets.
John Raybould, manager of Michaelwood, was confident any competition from deregulation could be handled.
Nick Smith, from Birmingham, who had stopped at Michaelwood on his return from holiday, acknowledged there had been improvements. 'The problem is we appear to be having to pay heavily for the privilege.'
(Photograph omitted)
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