Guide to Burton-in-Kendal services

It's very rare for Britain's motorways to offer a small facility in one direction only, but that's exactly what Burton does.

Facilities

Catering: Burger King, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Costa Express, f'real Milkshakes, Krispy Kreme, Tango Ice Blast Shops: M&S Simply Food, WHSmith Amenities: Travelodge, Changing Places, Full Hou$e, Showers Outdoor Space: Grass area around hotel Charging Points: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway HPC 350kW CCS, 100kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2 Forecourt: BP, Shop, Costa Express

Parking Prices

First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £15 and HGVs, caravans and motorhomes £23. HGVs can pay £26 to include a £10 food voucher.

Prices are paid in the shop or by using JustPark. The location code is 625120.

HGVs can also pay by using SNAP. The location code is 13480.

The fees are strictly enforced by GroupNexus.

This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.

Contact Details

Trivia and History

The service area opened on 23 October 1970, operated by Mobil and named Burton West. The "west" appeared to stem from the fact only the western half was built, rather than being west of Burton. It opened on the same day as this part of the M6 and was, for nearly two years, the last service area on the road.

In 1978, a partnering Burton East services was considered, but cancelled due to low traffic levels. Extra applied to build a southbound service area opposite the existing one in 1996, but their plans were refused as there were now enough service areas nearby.

An electric vehicle charging hub opened here in March 2022 adding five high-powered 350kW chargers to the existing two chargers.

The service area was subjected to a robbery in the early hours of 21 October 2023. Given its small size, the whole facility had to remain closed all day for investigation works.

Tendering

See also: M6 Service Area Planning

As the M6 made its way across Lancashire, government policy said that there needed to be a back-up plan for a service area about 12 miles north of Forton. No suitable land was available, so it was decided there would be a northbound service area at Carnforth, and a southbound service area at Burton.

The decision to build a new junction at Carnforth, and to change the route of the new motorway, meant that the Carnforth site would no longer work, but Burton would now be able to serve both sides of the road.

Events soon changed again. With Killington Lake only being available on the southbound side, and other service areas being one-sided to keep costs down and keep the pattern going, it was decided that the northbound side of Burton would be needed earlier than expected. There was some nervousness about this because Forton was still losing money, and traffic at Burton was expected to be extremely low, but facilities would still be needed for safety reasons.

A trial tender process began where only a £30,000 investment was requested, a very short lease was offered and only a very small snack bar would be needed. This would be attractive to oil companies with little catering experience. A second part of the experiment was that a second operator could one day build a full restaurant, meaning this could be the UK's first motorway service area with two operators.

Responses were received from Texaco, National Benzole, Esso, Total, Alpine and Mobil; the Ministry were very impressed by this outcome and used it as a template for all the service areas to the north of here.

Texaco and National Benzole were quickly ruled out for their poor design work. Esso and Total both made a very poor financial offer. It therefore came down to Mobil and Alpine.

Alpine wasn't yet formed but was led by two people with direct experience in motorway service areas. Their bid was described as a "pity" because it looked like a good facility with a 60-seat snack bar, but their rent offer was half of Mobil's, which was called a "prestige bid".

The suspicion was that Mobil were trying to buy their way into the market, but their plan seemed good and the Ministry needed the income. Mobil won the contract, with a 31-seat snack bar and their own brand of fuel. To avoid confusion with the permanently-postponed southbound side, this contract was titled "Burton (West)", which is how it became 'Burton West services'.

Experience

When Mobil's first building opened, it was described as "disappointing and unimaginative" by inspectors, who were disappointed that the building didn't take advantage of the views. It had only a tiny amenity building, a fuelling area with 12 distinctive circle-shaped segments, and a small parking area with only a handful of spaces for long vehicles, next to the cars.

In 1972 and again in 1977 Egon Ronay rated the service area as "appalling", calling it "drab and simply furnished".

When the site reached full capacity, Mobil allowed Granada to build a full catering building, and the two ran the service area together. They settled on a simple design which offered fuel and service facilities from either ends of the same building. That design had separate doors for the toilets and for the restaurant.

A new forecourt shop was built, allowing the main facilities to take over the rest of the old shop, which was extended a few times. The parking areas were expanded significantly, and a hotel was built. An official count in 1983 reported that Burton West could accommodate 20 HGVs, the lowest capacity for any motorway service area in England.

The British Tea Council chose Burton West as the site of Britain's best motorway tea in 1989. The management put this down to them using local Lake District water.

Granada announced in June 1996 that they had permission to change Burton West's name to Burton-in-Kendal. They were hoping that more generic names would be more memorable, easier to advertise and deter rivals from opening nearby. This was one of the only name changes that stuck.

In more recent times, Moto have tried to encourage customers to use both the toilets and the restaurant by building a glass cage around the front, creating a walkway rather than separate entrances.

Alternatives

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