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{{Services
|type = planned
|image = 
|operator = Moto
|road = [[A1(M)]] at J15
|address = Toll Bar{{newline}}Great North Road{{newline}}Sawtry{{newline}}Huntingdon{{newline}}Cambridgeshire{{newline}}PE28 5XW[[Category:2020s|Sawtry {{#setmainimage:Moto Sawtry.jpg}}]]
|postcode = PE28 5XW
|prevname = Toll Bar
|opened = 
|closed = 1998
|briefroad = A1(M) at J15
|stype = Single site located at a junction
|coords = 52.426825, -0.27018160
|markerpost = 0313
|signposted = It will be
}}

'''Sawtry services''' is a plan to bring what was left of the former '''Toll Bar services''' on the old [[A1]] back into use, creating a new service area at A1(M) J15. It is expected to open on '''{{current|31 March 2025}}'''.

==Facilities==
{{facilities| Restaurants | {{Burger King}}, {{Costa Coffee}}, {{Greggs}}, {{Pret A Manger}} }}
{{facilities| Shops | {{M&S Food}}, {{WHSmith}} }}
{{facilities| Amenities | {{Changing Places}} }}
{{facilities| Outdoor Space | No grass space }}
{{facilities| Charging Points | ''to be announced'' }}
{{facilities| Forecourt | {{BP}} }}

==Trivia and Design==
[[File:Sawtry road layout.jpg|250px|thumb|right|alt=Sawtry site layout.|The planned road and site layout.]]
The new amenity building was expected to take a hangar-style design, but it was updated to have a sloped roof with wooden panelling in the corners. On the ground floor (walking from the entrance towards the toilets) will now be [[Costa]], [[Greggs]], [[M&S Food]] and [[WHSmith]], with [[Burger King]], [[Pret A Manger]] and a game arcade on the other side. There would be seating by the entrance, divided by the corridor. There would also be a petrol station which had been expected to hold a drive thru Costa, but that has now been removed, as has the plan for a [[KFC]]. There would be more seating and a play area upstairs.

Unlike other service areas they have been proposed recently, this one will be much smaller and although it will be positioned off a junction, it was designed to be exclusively used by northbound traffic. Huntingdonshire District Council's position as of February 2024 was that Moto need to "minimise southbound A1(M) traffic from accessing the site", however documents from March 2024 say that Moto and National Highways have agreed the service area could be advertised to traffic on both sides of the road, despite the massive detour required for southbound traffic.

Highways England had indicated they were "reasonably happy" with it serving the northbound carriageway only; their concern was that the land isn't large enough for an abnormal load parking bay. They agreed "in principle" to overlook this, as the junction cannot handle abnormal loads anyway. The layout consumes all of the land available, while the parking areas will meet the bare minimum of what's required: 161 cars, 38 HGVs, 8 coaches and 4 caravan spaces.

The junction is much quieter than the other junctions Moto had been targeting, so less work would be required, though Moto are still paying for new traffic lights and double yellow lines on Toll Bar Way.

The chosen site is a strategic move which introduces the Moto brand to a new section of road. It is positioned prior to the busy [[Peterborough|Peterborough services]], while to the south there is the expanding service area at [[Brampton Hut]]. Also in its favour are the facts that a truckstop at Alconbury recently closed, a rival operators' service area at [[Black Cat]] closed in 2024, and the newly upgraded A14 may further increase traffic levels.

===History===
[[File:Sawtry abandoned restaurant.jpg|250px|thumb|right|alt=Abandoned building.|The former Little Chef, pictured in 2007.]]
{{fulldetails|History:A1#Private Proposals|A1(M) Planning Applications}}
There is a pleasing circularity to the service area, as the land used by Sawtry services started out as an orchard and terraced housing on Ermine Street, the historic route of the Great North Road. On the southbound side was the Toll Bar Cottages.

A northbound garage and bungalow were built in the 1970s, as well as a southbound petrol station. The '''Sawtry North''' branch of [[Happy Eater]] opened next to the northbound garage in the 1980s, which became a full petrol station. That petrol station was recorded as 'Talbot filling station', although this is most likely a misunderstanding of "Toll Bar".

The corresponding Sawtry South Happy Eater was a mile down the road at [[Redwings]]. Both those two sites were managed by Kamper Services, who built a hotel, called the Toll Bar Lodge, here at Sawtry North in 1989. This hotel became a partner of [[Pavilion|Pavilion Lodges]] in 1994.

Sawtry North was converted to become a Little Chef in 1996, following their acquisition of Happy Eater. A Little Chef had already been built on the opposite side of the road; that one was the '''Sawtry''' branch, and it opened in February 1984, after the Toll Bar Cottages were demolished in the early 1980s. These two now operated as a pair. The forecourt was branded [[Q8]].

===Motorway Era===
Everything changed in 1998, when the old Ermine Street was replaced by the new A1(M) motorway. The upgraded road narrowly passed the old northbound service area, taking away some of the petrol station. A new road, Toll Bar Way, was built to the west and provided access to what was left of the northbound side. Too much of the southbound side was taken by the new road and it had to be demolished. In theory it would have almost fit in the gap between the A1(M) and the new B1043, but that's before you account for the effect of the new embankments.

Back in 1993, Forte had registered a plan to upgrade the site. This would have been likely to be with a view to receiving road signs on the new A1(M). Their planning application was refused, and [[Peterborough|Peterborough services]] won approval instead.

To make space for the construction, the hotel was compulsory purchased by the Highways Agency, though the building itself survived. With the hotel closed and the forecourt derelict, the site continued with just the Little Chef, now accessed from the old road which met the A1(M) at nearby J15. Remarkably this situation lasted until 2007: arguably it was now doing the work of three other branches, but it was still hidden away from the motorway. It's no surprise that it eventually became a casualty of Little Chef's financial difficulties in 2007.

With that Little Chef closed, the site was abandoned. The remote and discrete building later became Pulse & Cocktails Adult Superstore, despite much local outcry. While this kept one building in use, the abandoned hotel and forecourt area, plus the unused land that was now surrounded by roads, became a magnet for fly-tipping.

===Recent Efforts===
There had been a plan in 2010 which would have rebuilt the petrol station and brought the hotel back into use. A developer received planning permission, but couldn't find an operator to sell it to. Another plan to bring the hotel back into use emerged in 2015, which saw it refurbished internally, but it never reopened.

Moto went public with their proposal in 2019. A previous plan from Moto had involved working around the hotel, and bringing the hotel building back into use. The hotel building will now be demolished.

Rival operator [[Extra]] had tried to argue that there was no need for it, and that the land was too small and constrained. Meanwhile, current land-users Pulse & Cocktails were unhappy that they were being pushed out by Moto acquiring their lease, and had asked if Moto would be willing to incorporate them. Pulse & Cocktails closed in March 2022, citing a site redevelopment project.

Planning permission was granted in February 2020, with the final details approved in February 2024. Demolition of the existing buildings commenced shortly after final approval, with groundworks commencing on the new service area in April 2024.

Applications for jobs at the site opened in August 2024, announcing the initial line-up of brands. The site had been set to gain a [[KFC]] restaurant, but this was now removed in favour of a [[Pret A Manger]] unit. A press release published by [[BP]] let slip that the service area would open on 31 March 2025, though Moto still insist it won't open until April.

==Alternatives==
{{Succession start}}
{{Succession|1|A1| [[Brampton Hut]] (A1, 7 miles){{newline}}[[Baldock]] (32 miles) | 
[[Peterborough]] (8 miles) }}
{{Succession|2|Moto| none nearby | 
[[Grantham North]] (A1, 40 miles) }}
</table>

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[[Category:A-roads]][[Category:Little Chef]][[Category:A1(M)]][[Category:A1]]

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