A41 between Watford and Aylesbury
Signposted from the road.
HP1 2SB
map and directions
Single site located at a junction.
A petrol station and fast food offer at the southern end of the A41.
Facilities
Catering: McDonald's Drive Thru Amenities: Premier Inn Outdoor Space: Grass verge behind forecourt Forecourt: Shell, Select, Deli by Shell, Costa Express, Car Wash, Jet Wash, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars at all facilities. Short stay HGV parking is available on the Shell forecourt.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Stoney Lane
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire
HP1 2SB
Trivia and Design
Had the Berkhamsted Bypass been built as a motorway as originally planned, there would have been no scope for a service area here, at least not at this scale. Instead, as the project was downgraded to an A-road, there was a different layout at Bourne End Mills industrial estate, which left space further development.
Shell are proposing to redevelop the site introducing new pumps, canopy and a larger sales building to the site. The works will also see the removal of the HGV parking bays in favour of more car parking spaces and the installation of four Shell Recharge electric vehicle charging bays.
Site History
Outline planning permission was initially granted for a filling station, hotel and restaurant at the junction in 1991. Margram then picked up the plans in 1992, receiving permission for the initial proposal in March 1993. The service area opened later that year with a Travel Inn hotel and a BP filling station, with space left for a restaurant. McDonald's later added the missing restaurant in early 1995.
Proposals to develop the remaining land started in 2000 with a Little Chef restaurant and Travelodge hotel being proposed. Despite being approved, these were never built.
By 2008, the filling station had been sold to Total who redeveloped the site in late 2009 adding a new Bonjour store, which also featured Café Nescafe for a time. The filling station was later acquired by Shell in 2012.
The McDonald's restaurant was extended in 2018.
Little Chef Bourne End
A Little Chef restaurant was positioned on the original alignment of the A41 in Bourne End village, which opened in around 1975 and closed in October 1994, shortly after the bypass opened. Local press reported that the lease on the building had expired, but the large reduction in passing traffic will have also played a factor in the decision to close the restaurant.
Margram were granted planning permission to add a Little Chef to the new service area in summer 2000, but upon resubmitting amended plans in 2002 it was refused on road safety grounds. Margram resubmitted the 2002 plans in 2007, and this was again refused on the basis that the Little Chef wasn't needed.
The former Little Chef building was initially set to be come a children's day nursery in 1995 but instead became home to Complete Outdoors, which closed in September 2020. The building was demolished soon after to make way for a new housing development.
Alternatives
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| Breakspear Way (A414 east, 5 miles) | Services on the A41 | Bicester (32 miles) |