Red Post services
A31 at Bere Regis
Not signposted in advance.
DT11 9EX
map and directions
Single site located at the side of the road.
The former home of the Bere Regis Happy Eater and Little Chef; the site was redeveloped by EG Group in 2022.
Facilities
Outdoor Space: No grass space Forecourt: BP, ASDA Express, Greggs, LEON Coffee, Free Cash Machine
Parking Prices
Short stay customer parking is available for cars only. 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:
Red Post Service Station
Main Road
Winterborne Zelston
Blandford Forum
Dorset
DT11 9EX
Trivia and History
Red Post is a road junction just west of here, named after its red fingerpost. A property called Red Post Bungalow was built next to the A31, and then a workshop was built next to it in 1978.
Plans for a filling station and a restaurant here were first proposed in 1981. The filling station opened first, and a Happy Eater later joined it in 1985. This became the Bere Regis branch of Little ChefHistory in 1996, which gained a Subway franchise in 2014.
Throughout the 2000s, the filling station was branded Total. In the early 2010s, this was changed to BP.
Following the loss of the rights to the Little Chef brand name, Euro Garages converted the Little Chef to EG Diner in January 2018. The restaurant closed in summer of 2018 with no plans to replace it.
Following the closure of the restaurant, the filling station followed closing in late 2018. The Subway then closed on 12 March 2019, leaving the site abandoned, and the approach signs to the site were removed. The empty forecourt was used by a snack bar during the COVID-19 lockdown, during which it was branded "food to go".
Work to redevelop the service area began in November 2021. The former Little Chef was demolished and replaced by a new forecourt sales building, branded as an ASDA On the Move store, which opened on 2 December 2022. A new drive thru unit was built on the site of the old sales building and was intended to be branded Starbucks, but before it was built, EG Group changed the plan to make it a LEON Drive Thru - the first on the major road network. This building had been branded as a LEON when the rest of the site first opened, but has been mothballed ever since, with all LEON signage removed.
The site has since transferred into the Asda estate, relaunching on 26 February 2024 with a new Asda Express store. Following the transfer, Asda put the drive-thru unit up for let in July 2024.
The Ordnance Survey continued to show Red Post as an active service area, named 'Bere Regis', throughout its closure. The road signs haven't been reinstated since the place first closed.
Alternatives
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| Picket Post (21 miles) | Services on the A31 | Kilmington Cross (A35 west, 44 miles) |