Guide to Cullompton services

Cullompton is a small service area signed only from the northbound side. Southbound traffic can access it from J28 just like northbound, it's just that there are no signs.

Facilities

Catering: Costa Coffee, McDonald's, Warrens Bakery, Costa Express Shops: WHSmith Amenities: Quicksilver, Showers Outdoor Space: No grass space Charging Points: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway 50kW CCS, 50kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2; IONITY 350kW CCS Forecourt: Shell, Select, Deli by Shell, Costa Express, Car Wash, Free Cash Machine

Parking Prices

First 3 hours free for all vehicles, after which charges apply:

Up to 4 hours (including free period): £10. Up to 6 hours: £22. Up to 8 hours: £30. Up to 15 hours: £33. Up to 24 hours: £38. Up to 48 hours: £66. Up to 72 hours: £100. Each additional 24 hours or part: £35. Trailer swaps: £15. No return within the remaining 24 hour period.

Prices are paid at the parking machines located in the food court, and can be paid with GBP, EUR or fuel cards.

HGVs can also pay by using SNAP. The location code is 5193.

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

Contact Details

Trivia and History

Cullompton stood out for its tiny amenity building and unusual appearance; the result of government policy at the time and a strange negotiation. For a long time, it stood out for supposedly being operated by McDonald's.

It's the only motorway service area to be positioned at a junction and yet only signed from one side.

Additional, unrelated, "local facilities" are signed from the same junction.

Opening

See also: M5 Planning Applications

The service area was planned in 1993 by Boulevard Land Ltd. A Traffic Signs Agreement was signed, and then in 1995 the land was advertised for sale, when it was purchased by Margram, who designed the buildings.

It opened on 3 September 1999, with a single building holding two separate catering units, each with their own entrance. On the left was McDonald's and on the right was a vacant space, which was soon leased by Moto and turned into their preferred restaurant chain, Little Chef. The two were linked by an internal corridor, which is where the toilets were. Fuel was provided by BP.

The unusual building design was a response to the tradition that motorway service areas function with a single building, which in turn makes it easier to meet the requirement to provide free public toilets. Margram were more used to developing A-road service areas, where a pairing like this would normally be developed as two independent diners.

The building carried prominent McDonald's branding, with no mention of who the actual operator was. On the motorway, 'McDonald's' were given as the operator's name: they were, after all, the ones running the 24 hour restaurant.

Signing

During planning, the Highways Agency raised concerns that there wouldn't be enough parking spaces (at 143), which would mean that Cullompton couldn't be signed as a motorway service area. In addition, they were concerned about its impact on the low-capacity motorway junction. Cullompton secured planning permission anyway, as was another new motorway service area at the next junction, Tiverton.

This created another new problem for the new planning system, which was that despite two service areas now having planning permission, policy at the time stated that they were too close together and therefore only one of them could be signed from the motorway. A compromise was reached where Cullompton would be signposted from the M5 northbound only, in exchange for Tiverton being signposted from the M5 southbound. However, the Tiverton project was never finished, so the M5 now has one more signposted service area when going northbound than southbound. The anomaly was never rectified, and most people in power probably have no idea how it arose.

When the service area opened there were several attempts to add totem poles to the site, which the Highways Agency described as a "disappointing" effort to unofficially attract southbound motorists.

Subsequent Changes

Cullompton was sold to Extra in 2003. Extra advertised Cullompton under their Gold Star brand, but in practice very few changes were made. It wasn't until 2007 that Extra branding started to be introduced, with most of the signage being updated in 2009, and some coming even later.

The Little Chef became LP4 in 2004 - Moto were phasing out their use of Little Chef at the time, and one they didn't even own the rest of the building would be a sensible place to start. Shortly after LP4 opened, a glass shelter was erected around the main entrance, meaning that customers now walked through a single doorway before picking a side. This made it function more like a single building.

The BP garage transferred to Shell in 2008, in line with all other Extra forecourts.

A 2010 refurbishment saw the toilet block moved from the entrance to the back, allowing a new WHSmith to open in the middle. This made it look much like any other service area building, with a corridor past the facilities. A side entrance leading to the back of the car park was included in the extension.

LP4 became a Costa in April 2012, ran by Moto again.

Warren's Bakery, a Cornwall-based bakery, was introduced to the service area on 26 May 2015. This involved covering up some of the glass frontage added in 2004, again masking the original layout.

IONITY electric vehicle charging points were added to the back of the car park in 2020.

Reputation

The service area received considerable media attention in 2006, after it came last in Holiday Which? Magazine's survey, where they said it was "little more than a McDonald's next to a petrol station". They reported un-flushed toilets with broken seats and broken locks. Extra said that this was "not an accurate description", arguing that the survey was unfair.

In August 2011, VisitEngland rated the service area as 2 stars, making it one of the worst-rated. It progressed to 3 stars in the May 2012 and March 2015 reviews.

The 2017 Transport Focus assessment rated Cullompton highly, with a 97% satisfaction score putting it in the top 13. By 2019 it had slid to third-worst, with only a 74% satisfaction score. The next survey had it back up to 95%, placing it in the top half, showing just how erratic survey results can be.

Planning Issues

Cullompton was built on the site of an old railway station yard. Space was left for the station to be reopened and turned into a park and ride site, but this was eventually turned into an overflow car park. In May 2020, the government finally provided funding to carry the railway plan forward. It's still a long way off and now no longer clear if a station will operate in connection with the service area.

An early draft of the Greater Exeter Strategic Plan, dated 2020, proposed closing Cullompton services. It argued that the area is too congested and that the land is needed for housing. Land next to the M5 close to Poltimore House was recommended as the site for a new, high-capacity service area that would replace both Cullompton and Exeter. This proposal was supposedly stopped in October 2024, after numerous councillors opposed the new location, calling it "a disaster". However, East Devon District Council's final report merely said that the new location wasn't needed yet, and that the topic would have to be revisited should Exeter services ever plan to close.

Alternatives

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