A1 northbound between Grantham and Newark
Signposted from the road.
NG32 2JS
map and directions
Single site located between junctions on one side of the road.
A small petrol station on the northbound side of the Foston Bypass.
Facilities
Catering: Starbucks Drive Thru Outdoor Space: No grass space Charging Points: MFG EV Power 100kW CCS & 50kW CHAdeMO Forecourt: Esso, Londis, Costa Express, Rollover
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for all vehicles. No overnight parking is available.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Foston Services
Great North Road
Foston
Grantham
Lincolnshire
NG32 2JS
- Starbucks operated by Magic Bean Co.
- Forecourt operated by MFG
- 📞 Telephone number: 01400 220230
- 📌 what3words: ///suitable.snippets.armrests
- more map options
Trivia and Design
The site is really part of a pair of MFG-operated, Esso-branded forecourts. This one is on the northbound side, and forms part of an official service area, named 'Foston'. The second is on the southbound side, and known as 'Toll Bar', although the Toll Bar name has sometimes been applied to both. The southbound has never been officially classed as a service area, as it lacks a restaurant and has an unsatisfactory exit, but a redevelopment is proposed.
The northbound side appeared in the Highways Agency's truckstop guide, where it was listed as having eight chargeable spaces.
Site History
This northbound side was built as a Heron filling station beside the existing Foston Motel, later mapped as Hyde-A-Way. This became a private dwelling, and a flat-roofed Little Chef restaurant was built next door in the 1970s.
That Little Chef closed in 2007, becoming Breakers Roadside Restaurant and, in 2012, LJ's Diner. LJ's closed in late 2013, leaving behind a cluttered shell of a building. The building was home to a catering company for a while but was then put up for let in the early 2020s.
The filling station went on to be owned by Malthurst. It was branded Texaco in the 2000s before rebranding to Jet in 2011. Following MRH's takeover of Malthurst, the site rebranded to Esso in 2015, retaining the Jet 'Shop' branding and colours. This remained until summer 2019, when the shop was rebranded to Londis.
Redevelopment
MFG were granted planning permission to demolish the former restaurant building and build a new Starbucks Drive Thru on the land, as well as four electric vehicle charging bays, in 2022. This was approved despite National Highways raising concerns about the road layout.
Demolition commenced on the former restaurant building in December 2023, with the new Starbucks expected to open in summer 2024. This was inevitably delayed to autumn 2024 due to power constraints. It was later announced that the Starbucks will be operated by franchisee The Magic Bean Company, in what is set to be their first roadside store, with the store opening on 8 November 2024.
As part of the works, MFG were set to install four of their MFG EV Power electric vehicle chargers to the Starbucks car park but this was significantly scaled back due to the power constraints on site. As a compromise, one MFG EV Power charger was added the forecourt in late September 2024.
Alternatives
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