BN26 6QL
map and directions
Single site located at a junction.
A designated commercial area on the Polegate Bypass.
Facilities
Catering: Lite Bites, McDonald's Drive Thru Amenities: Premier Inn, Children's Play Area (at McDonald's) Outdoor Space: Small grass area and picnic area at Lite Bites; public footpath connections Forecourt: ASDA Express, Costa Express, Rollover, LPG (FloGas), Car Wash, Jet Wash, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is provided for cars at all facilities, with 3 parking bays available for larger vehicles on the forecourt.
Guests of the Premier Inn hotel are required to provide their registration number to reception in order to claim free parking during their stay. Chargeable parking is also available 24 hours a day 7 days a week and is charged at £2 for up to 2 hours, £3 for up to 6 hours, £3.50 for up to 12 hours or £4 for 24 hours.
Prices are paid using the YourParkingSpace app. The location code is 11125.
The fees are strictly enforced by ParkMaven.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Hailsham Road
Polegate
East Sussex
BN26 6QL
Trivia and History
When this section of the Polegate Bypass was built, space was left both for the road to be completed and for a service area to be plugged in. This arrived a few years later, in the style of a long road with an increasing number of developments attached to it. It was developed around Cop Hall House, which is still there.
Initial plans for the service area were made in 1992, with outline planning permission being requested by DM&H Planning Services in 1996. This showed a filling station with HGV/coach parking area, hotel, restaurant, motorists' shop, tourist information centre, picnic area and car parking, all based around a single access road. This was finally approved in 2001.
Margram and Cophall Farm finalised details of the new filling station in 2003, which they called Eastbourne service station. Whitbread soon followed with its intention to build a Brewers Fayre restaurant and a 40-bed Travel Inn on the opposite side of the road.
These opened in 2006, with the filling station branded Somerfield. A picnic area, children's play area and toilet block were provided at the bottom of the access road.
Expansion
The Brewers Fayre restaurant changed to its sister brand, Table Table, and it was known as 'Treacle Mine', referring to the local folk tale of Polegate's treacle mines. The Premier Inn was extended later that year.
Lite Bites Bistro Café opened on 8 August 2007 in part of the toilet block, with one end being retained as toilets. This remained under the same owners until 8 August 2023 when new owners took over, dropping Bistro from the name.
Following the The Co-operative Group's takeover of Somerfield, the filling station was rebranded to Total in 2011. The sales shop became a Co-op Food store.
The McDonald's opened on some of the remaining land in 2012. Around this time, the picnic area was sealed off. That land is now used by the farm owners to host car boot sales.
The filling station continued to trade under the Total brand until early 2016, making it the last Total site on the UK's major road network. It was rebranded as Co-op Petrol in late 2017.
The Table Table restaurant was one of many to be rebranded in 2016, this time becoming 'Whitbread Inns'. The interior of the restaurant now features old photos and information about the treacle mines and the history of where the restaurant gets its name from.
The final remaining plot of land on the site was used to house a 'Make Ready Centre' for the South East Coast Ambulance Service in 2017.
The forecourt rebranded to Asda Express on 18 October 2023 as part of Asda's nationwide acquisition of Co-op petrol stations.
The Treacle Mine pub-restaurant here became one of the first in England to close to the public on 4 July 2024, as part of Whitbread's Accelerated Growth Plan. The restaurant is now only available to hotel guests, with plans to convert the land to additional hotel rooms during 2025.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Boship (4 miles) | Services on the A22 | none |
| Crossbush (37 miles) | Services on the A27 | Pevensey (5 miles) |
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