Telford services
M54 at J4
(also accessible to traffic on the A464)
Signposted from the road.
TF11 8TG
map and directions
Single site located at a junction.
A small atrium building forms the M54's only motorway service area, acting as a pit stop on the route to Shrewsbury and Mid Wales.
Facilities
Catering: Burger King, Starbucks, f'real Milkshakes, Hershey's Freeze, Jolly Rancher Slush, Krispy Kreme, The Phat Pasty Co., Reese's Freeze, Rollover, Starbucks on the Go Shops: Shop, Waitrose & Partners Amenities: Days Inn, Game Zone, Showers Outdoor Space: Large grass area next to hotel; picnic area at bottom of car park Charging Points: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway 50kW CCS, 50kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2; Tesla Supercharger 120kW Forecourt: Shell, LPG (Calor)
Parking Prices
First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £15 for a further 24 hours and HGVs, caravans and coaches must pay £30 for up to 24 hours (or £32 to include a £12 meal voucher).
Prices can be paid in the shop, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by ParkingEye.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Welcome Break Service Station
M54 Junction 4
Priorslee Road
Shifnal
Shropshire
TF11 8TG
- 🌍 Official Welcome Break/Telford website
- Facebook Page
- Foursquare Page
- 📞 Telephone number: 01952 238400
- 📌 what3words: ///simply.half.guesswork
- more map options
Trivia and History
The shopping area at the back of the building, before it became WHSmith-branded.
The service area opened on 17 March 2003. It has a much smaller footprint than most of the UK's motorway service areas.
As with most new service areas, the car park was built with a considerable amount of empty space around it, to leave space for a future expansion. Welcome Break declared that their service area should be a "shop window" for the county, and the space was used to host many items representing the history of Telford. These included a six metre industrial steam hammer loaned by Ironbridge Gorge Museum and some fossilised limestone from Wenlock Edge.
Most of these artefacts were removed when the car park was expanded in 2010. Welcome Break to remarked that custom levels had risen fast since it opened, and that they now wished the site was considerably larger.
Works are currently underway at the back of the car park to add six new Applegreen Electric chargers, as well as works to upgrade and increase the capacity of the Tesla Superchargers.
Planning
See also: M54 Planning Applications
While the M54 was being planned, the intention was that there would be a service area at Lizard Hill. This was always going to be a low priority, and when the M54 opened in 1983 it wasn't included.
In 1985 Lord Stafford registered a plan to build a motorway service area at Castle Farm. This was followed by one from Shell and then the Department of Transport. Tradition was that the Department of Transport would dictate where new motorway service areas would be built, but they were increasingly likely to take inspiration from private developers.
A press release from 1986 stated that the Department of Transport were merely "investigating options" for the M54, without naming any locations. By 1991, they said that a service area would be provided at "Telford", though they hadn't yet made it clear that Castle Farm was their preferred site.
The Department of Transport ended their involvement in new service area planning in 1992. With no progress having been made at Telford, the door was open to any developer to come in. Lord Stafford and Lanmead Limited made the planning application at Castle Farm in 1993. British Land Plc and Hallam Land Management were later involved.
In 2002, Henry Boot Developments (a subsidiary of Hallam Land Management) leased the land at Castle Farm to Welcome Break on a 25 year lease. In 2006 the land was sold to Rockspring Property Investment Managers for £13.2m.
The original plan had the hotel, amenity building and forecourt sales shop all in one building, arranged in an L-shape with the main part in the corner. This was rearranged before it was built. It now has a small building, anticipating low traffic levels, and may have only opened to keep competitors away. The corridor to the toilets is especially narrow.
It remains a very rare example of a British motorway service area selling all its food and fuel from the same building; that is something normally only seen elsewhere in Europe, where the motorways are usually quieter.
Branding
In addition to the coffee stand by the entrance, two units were provided: initially these were Burger King and a large restaurant counter. Next to these was a third counter, used to purchase fuel and items from Welcome Break's own-branded shop. In line with all other Welcome Breaks, the shop was later branded WHSmith, but it was still selling fuel and stock which was displayed all over the back of the building.
The restaurant was eventually removed and became a large Waitrose. In May 2018, the WHSmith sign was taken down from sales counter and instead an un-branded 'please pay here' was used, alongside the Shell logo. This change made space for the introduction of The Pasty Shop, an Upper Crust brand. The shop was refurbished again in June 2023, which saw The Pasty Shop replaced with Welcome Break's The Good Bakery offering.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Corley (M6 south, 44 miles) Frankley (M5, 33 miles) Warwick (M40, 64 miles) Tamworth (M42 north, 43 miles) Norton Canes (M6 Toll, 21 miles) Stafford (North) (M6 northbound, 33 miles) Stafford (South) (M6 southbound, 32 miles) | Services on the M54 | Shrewsbury (A5, 16 miles) |
| Corley (M6 south, 42 miles) Keele (M6 north, 43 miles) Warwick (M40, 63 miles) Hopwood Park (M42 east, 42 miles) | Welcome Break services | none |
| Stirchley (A442 south, 3 miles) | Services on the A464 | none |
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