Fenstanton services
A1307 Huntingdon Road at Fenstanton
Signposted from the road? Eastbound only
CB23 4LU
map and directions
Single site located between junctions on one side of the road.
After the new A14 opened in December 2019, Fenstanton services sits stranded on the old road, continuing to provide minimal facilities for local traffic.
Facilities
Amenities: Travelodge Outdoor Space: Grass spaces next to hotel; picnic tables next to EV chargers Charging Points: Shell Recharge 150kW CCS Forecourt: Shell, Select, Deli by Shell, Costa Express
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars. No HGV parking is available.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Conington
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB23 4LU
Trivia and History
The Little Chef restaurant in 2011.
Fenstanton was built in 1989, located on the eastbound side of the A14 Fenstanton Bypass, within what was known as junction 27. The entrance is direct from the road while the exit leads to the old Cambridge Road. It became widely known as Huntingdon services.
Upon opening it offered the common combination of a Shell forecourt, a Travelodge hotel and the Huntingdon branch of Little ChefHistory. Ownership was shared between Forte and another landowner. This restaurant was the eastbound partner of Abbots, built a few miles to the west, and opened at the same time.
The Huntingdon branch was later painted blue by Forte in an attempt to attract more formal diners in the evening. When Granada took over they undid this, but they kept the furniture and introduced a Burger King franchise. The building was severely damaged by a fire on 31 July 1996, and reopened at the end of the year. Vandalism remained a challenge.
A Coffee Tempo! was added in 2006, but it became a Little Chef Express in 2012. By this stage the restaurant was performing poorly, but it underwent a major internal change-around which saw its fortunes change, especially after it tried to attract nearby residents. It became a well-regarded branch and was shortlisted for the Wonderfully British refurbishment in 2011, but that idea fell through after landlord issues.
The restaurants were taken over by Euro Garages in 2017, who only had limited use of the Little Chef name, and were expected to change it to Starbucks. Starbucks wouldn't have wanted to share the building with the Burger King, and as a result no progress was made and the Little Chef changed to the temporary name EG Diner in early 2018.
The EG Diner and Burger King both closed in summer 2018 for refurbishment and later reopened as a Burger King, Subway and Greggs combination site.
Demise
On 9 December 2019 the new A14 opened, and the old A14 past Fenstanton became a local road called the A1307. The 2023 Ordnance Survey maps continue to show the site as a rare example of an official service area on a local A-road.
The recent refurbishment may have given the impression that EG Group were confident of attracting local traffic. The early reports weren't so convincing, and in early 2020, the Greggs and Subway stores both closed, having reported a significant drop in custom.
The remaining Burger King was forced to close for the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, and the following year it was announced that this closure would be permanent. This leaves the amenity building completely empty, but for the time being that building is still owned by EG Group.
Despite the site's mothballed appearance, Shell commenced construction on a six-bay Shell Recharge electric vehicle charging hub in summer 2022, next to their forecourt. The chargers went live in Spring 2023.
The building was severely damaged by a fire on the afternoon of 27 August 2024. An investigation is treating it as arson.
Alternatives
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