Newport Pagnell Services was one of the first service stations to be opened in the UK, opening the same day as Watford Gap services on 2 November 1959. Newport Pagnell was the first to fully open for all traffic, opening on 15th August 1960, a month before Watford Gap.[1] Like the motorway, the site was designed by Sir Owen Williams. The services were opened by Forte, and were taken over by Welcome Break in 1988.
The service station is one of fourteen for which large murals were commissioned from artist David Fisher in the 1990s, designed to reflect the local area and history.[2]
In the news[]
On 3 September 2007, a National Express coach from Birmingham to Luton Airport and Stansted Airport (making an unscheduled stop) failed to make a turn on the approach road and overturned. A number of people including the driver were seriously injured. The driver was subsequently convicted of drink driving and dangerous driving.[3]
