Lymm

Lymm truckstop

Moto

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Location:

M6 at J20
M56 at J9
(also accessible to traffic on the A50, B5158 and the B5356)

Signposted from the road? Yes (as Greggs/Costa/M&S)

Postcode:

WA13 0SP

map and directions

Access/Layout:

Single site located at a junction..

Rating: See the reviews

More of a courtyard than a service area, and technically only a truckstop but it caters for cars too. It's located at the M6/M56 interchange and used to have an independent appeal; it's now considered to be in-line with other Moto services.

Facilities

Catering: Template:Bar & Grill, Costa Coffee, Greggs, McDonald's Drive Thru, Costa Express, Krispy Kreme Shops: Barber Shop, M&S Simply Food, Trucking Shop, WHSmith Amenities: Lucky Coin, Revolution Laundry, Showers, Truck Wash, ibis budget Charging Points: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway 50kW CCS & CHAdeMO; NomadPower 22kW CEE 5 Pin Forecourt: BP, Shop, Costa Express, Air1 AdBlue, LPG (FloGas)

Parking Prices

First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £16 and HGVs, caravans and motorhomes £20.50. HGVs can pay £22.50 to include a £10 food voucher. Trailer changeovers have a charge of £3 for 24 hours.

Prices are paid using pay points in the main building. The fees are strictly enforced by CP Plus.

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

Contact Details

🏢 Address:
Lymm Services
Cliff Lane
Lymm
Cheshire
WA13 0SP

🌍 Operators & Official Websites:

• Main facilities and forecourt operated by Moto
• Drive Thru restaurant operated by McDonald's
• Hotel operated by Accor Group
  
  
• Foursquare Page
  
  
• 📞 Telephone number: 01925 757777

Trivia and Design

The central courtyard.

There are a series of breakdown units located within the service area. The coach parking area was used as a late-night interchange by Eurolines.

The complicated motorway arrangement here means stopping here while driving west along the M56 will add more than two miles to your journey. In practice most of that detour is on a motorway, so not as bad as it sounds.

History

There was a truckstop to the north of Cliff Lane, dating back to the 1950s, known as Poplars Truckstop. It was managed by Poplar hauliers and taken over by new owners in 1983 who found a number of issues including that it was too small, and its tight entrance was frequently causing queues on the A50.

In 1987 the new owners proposed moving the truckstop to its present site, south of Cliff Lane. The move was approved despite opposition from the A50 Pressure Group.

The new truckstop was branded Poplar 2000 and opened with 480 parking spaces. McDonald's joined it in 1995, on land they lease from the service area. A Travelodge was built in around 1997.

Lymm had a conference room on the north side, café on the east side, toilets on the south side and a shop on the west side. An advert from its opening described a 32 acre site with facilities including four restaurants and a cinema.

New Owners

The site was acquired by Compass Group. When Compass merged with Granada, Poplar 2000 was placed in the Compass Roadside division, which meant when the two were split it came to be owned by Moto. Moto continued to use the Poplar 2000 name, but began introducing some of their partners too. Their intention had always been to use it as an overflow site for Knutsford.

Granada reached a formal agreement with the Highways Agency in August 2000, aiming to encourage lorries which had been stopping at Knutsford to use Lymm instead. Knutsford only has 27 spaces for lorries whereas Lymm has 600.

As early as May 2001, Moto looked at adding a Scoop and Ladbrokes to the main building, as well as a larger restaurant. This didn't happen, but other partners such as Costa and WHSmith were introduced, replacing the old Poplar-branded facilities. The entry barriers stopped being used, which increased car traffic but led to an increase in crime.

There had been reports that Moto were going to keep the Poplar name and apply it to Barton Park, but by the 2010s it could only be found on road signs, and by 2015 it had been totally removed.

Even so, Moto wanted to invest in this site and opened Britain's first service station Greggs, and the first Greggs franchise, here in early 2012. This was followed by a M&S Simply Food store on 19 March 2015. Lucky Coin and Fifth Wheel Bar & Grill also officially opened here on 25 March. A temporary unbranded restaurant and bar had been in operation whilst the new facilities were installed.

The Travelodge hotel closed in late 2013 and was sold on to Ibis Budget who reopened the hotel in May 2014.

The site of the old truckstop became Poplar Park. In November 2019, Template:Website moved from the main service station to the site of the old truckstop. The new Poplar Park claims to be the largest HGV wash in Europe.

Moto submitted a planning application to build a drive thru KFC in the western corner of the car park in 2021, but the plan was refused due to complaints from local councils.

Alternatives

Previous:		Next:
Knutsford (6 miles)	Services on the M6	Charnock Richard (22 miles) Burtonwood (M62 west, 10 miles) Birch (M62 east, 23 miles)
Birch (M62 east, 35 miles)	Services on the M56	Chester (14 miles)
Knutsford (6 miles)	Moto services	Birch (M62 east, 23 miles)

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