London Gateway Services (M1 J2–J4)

London Gateway is the first service area on the M1 heading north out of London, sitting between Junction 2 and Junction 4 at Mill Hill. It is run by Welcome Break, and it opened in 1969 under its original name, Scratchwood.

One site, both directions — and it is built on a junction that was never finished

Unlike most M1 services there is only one site here, reached from either carriageway, so there is no wrong side to pull in on and no footbridge to find. It stands on land set aside for a Junction 3 that was never built — a planned M1 to A1 link that was dropped, which is why the M1 jumps from Junction 2 to Junction 4.

What is at London Gateway Services

• Food and drink: Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme
• Shops: Waitrose & Partners, WHSmith, and a games arcade
• Fuel and charging: a Welcome Break forecourt, GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, and a 12-bay Tesla Supercharger rated up to 250kW
• Hotel: Ramada London North M1, on site
• Lorries: HGV parking, no booking needed

Parking is free for two hours; after that Welcome Break charges £15 for up to 24 hours for a car, and £35 for an HGV, or £38 with a £12 meal voucher.

Service area details are compiled from the operators’ own published information and were last checked on 14 September 2026. Facilities change — if something here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it.

The traffic around London Gateway Services

The services sit on the stretch between Junction 2 and Junction 4, which the Department for Transport counts at 66,698 vehicles a day — the 42nd busiest of the 42 measured stretches of M1 mainline. Of those, 3,464 are lorries, 5.2% of the traffic. That makes this the quietest measured stretch of the entire M1 — which is less surprising than it sounds, because most London-bound traffic has already left at Junction 4 for the A41 or at Junction 1 for the North Circular.

Traffic figures are Department for Transport road traffic statistics, annual average daily flow for 2025, both directions combined.