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Motorway service stations are part of everyday life.

And they will soon be unavoidable for millions of motorists heading off on their travels as the summer holiday road trips are fast approaching.

ClassicLine, helpful as ever, turns its spotlight on four motorway service stations that deserve particular attention.

Newport Pagnell, M1

This is the UK’s first service station that was open to all traffic, unlike Watford Gap which opened a few weeks earlier on 2nd November 1959 for trucks only on the same day the M1 was opened.

Aside from the service station, Newport Pagnell is famous for the fact that actress Letitia Dean, who plays Sharon Watts in Eastenders, went to a school in the town.

Cobham, M25

This is the UK’s busiest service station (no surprise given it is on the M25) and when opened could also lay claim to having the UK’s largest filling station with the most number of pumps and volume of available fuel.

Cobham, unlike Newport Pagnell, has previously been dubbed by a national newspaper as a celebrity capital and is a particular favourite residence for football players.

Abington, M74

This service station in Scotland gets a special mention purely for the fact that it is alphabetically the first in the UK.

However, it also deserves merit as in 2008 it was awarded the five-star Loo of the Year Award.

As far as we can tell there are no celebrities living in Abington village itself in South Lanarkshire.

Charnock Richard, M6

Another ground-breaking service station in that Charnock Richard was the first service station to be opened on the M6 in 1963, the UK’s longest motorway.

Unusually, on the southbound side the petrol station is situated at the top of the entry slip road, whereas in most UK motorway service stations it is normally on the way out.

The M6 itself runs all the way from near Rugby in Warwickshire and finishes at Gretna, so other motorway service stations are available.

ClassicLine would love to hear about your favourite motorway service stations.