The additional seating area at Taunton Deane South, located opposite Fresh Food Cafe and Chozen Noodle. It wasn't open during my visit & seems to only be in use during the summer periods, when the sites busier. The existing seating area was in high demand whilst I visited, being the reason I photoed this instead. The existing seating area was also very messy with litter. When the site was being refurbished in early 2019, a temporary structure was added & used as a seating area whilst the permanent one was under renovation. Roadchef later purchased this structure from their contractor, & used it as a permanent additional seating area. It makes the exterior of the amenity building look scruffy and disjointed. Roadchef plan to extensively refurbish Taunton Deane South again in 2025, adding a new LEON restaurant & larger seating area. In the process, they will be removing this temporary structure. I'm hoping the refurbishment makes the interior at Taunton Deane South feel more spacious, as currently it's cramped. This room has a lovely view of the Somerset greenery surrounding Taunton Deane. The interior of Taunton Deane South is highly similar to their other 70s built sites, such as Rownhams West and Sandbach. They all have low ceilings & limited space for seating. Roadchef's 2019 refurb has also made navigating the inside of Taunton Deane South rather confusing as customers have to "snake" around the seating areas and food units to access the toilets at the back. Taunton Deane is likely to be impacted by the new EuroGarages service area being built 12 miles North of here opposite Moto's Bridgwater site. EG are due to begin construction in 2025, & once completed, most customers will choose to stop there as it will be brand new. Taunton Deane will experience a dip in custom levels similar to Corley on the M6 when Rugby opened. This seating area looks to be in quite bad condition, & randomly there appears to be leaves on the ground despite being indoors. The communal seating here currently can be used for customers of McDonalds, Fresh Food Cafe & Chozen Noodle. Customers of the Cornish Bakery can also use the seating here, but the general expectation from Roadchef is that customers take their food away as the unit is located externally. Costa has its own seating here as well.

Photo taken on 22/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Taunton Deane, Roadchef, M5