Summary
South Mimms services is a motorway service area accessible from Junction 23 of the M25 motorway which is also Junction 1 of the A1(M), in England near South Mimms, Hertfordshire. Constructed in 1986 as the first service area on the M25, it is operated by Welcome Break. It is built on the site of Bignell's Corner, named after a garden centre, Bignell and Cutbush, which was close to the junction of the old A6, and A1.[1][2][3] At the junction there was also a pub, the Middlesex Arms, and an Esso Motor hotel, near which developed a notorious truck stop and the Beacon Cafe.
| South Mimms Services | |
|---|---|
 | |
  South Mimms Services Location in Hertfordshire, England  South Mimms Services Location on the UK motorway network | |
| Information | |
| County | Hertfordshire |
| Road | M25 and A1(M) |
| Coordinates: | 51°41′13″N 0°13′23″W / 51.686927°N 0.222956°W |
| Operator | Welcome Break |
| Previous operator(s) | Adam & Tim Co. |
| Date opened | 1986 |
| Website | Welcome Break |
History edit
When constructed in 1986,[4] it was the first service area directly accessible from the M25.[citation needed]
The building was destroyed in August 1998 following a fire started in a deep fryer with no fire suppression system; an incident which has been subsequently studied.[5]
An unusual heist of 2,900 dresses all of the same design occurred in the lorry park at the service area on the morning of 13 August 2013. The loot was valued at £17,000.[6]
The 2019 Motorway Services User Survey found that South Mimms was in the top five motorway services in the UK for customer satisfaction.[7]
References edit
- ^ Issues, The London Gazette, 25 August 1989, page 9937
- ^ Mymshall Brook - Bignall's Corner Edith's Streets; London Local History, 1 April 2013
- ^ A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5, A P Baggs, 1976, pp. 271-282. South Mimms: Introduction'
- ^ Motorway Services Trivia - Chronology Archived 2 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine - Accessed 16 February 2009
- ^ Out of the frying pan… by VOELKERT C; in the Fire prevention Journal ISSN 0309-6866 CODEN FPRVD7 1998, no314, pp. 24-26
- ^ Hannah Crouch. "Thousands of dresses stolen from South Mimms services". Tindle Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
- ^ Smithers, Rebecca (31 July 2019). "Severn Bridge services named as worst on England's motorways". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
