Trowell Services (M1 J25–J26)

Trowell sits on the M1 between Junction 25 and Junction 26 near Nottingham. It is run by Moto, and it opened in March 1967.

It opened as a Robin Hood theme park

Mecca Leisure built Trowell as a fully themed Nottinghamshire village: the Sheriff’s Restaurant seating 190, two Forest Cafés, and an alcohol-free family pub called The Friar Tuck-In. Two seven-foot mosaic murals stood near the entrances — The Fighting Horsemen and The Archer — three-dimensional Robin Hood scenes made by George Dereford, a Hungarian artist then living in Marlow. The site ran to 24 acres. Drivers could fill up at any of 60 pumps, post a letter, and find both the RAC and the police on the premises. Granada stripped the theming out after taking over in 1977.

What is at Trowell Services

• Food and drink: Costa and Costa Express, Burger King, Greggs, Krispy Kreme; KFC on the northbound side
• Shops: M&S Food and WHSmith on both sides
• Fuel and charging: a 24-hour BP forecourt with AdBlue and HGV AdBlue; GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, six bays northbound and twelve southbound, up to 240kW
• Hotel: Travelodge, northbound side
• Lorries: HGV parking, bookable through SNAP
• Also: showers, free WiFi and a dog walking area

Two hours free, then £15 for up to 24 hours for a car and £30 for an HGV, or £33 with a £10 food voucher — among the cheapest lorry parking on the M1.

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 Facilities change — if something here is out of date, please tell us and we will correct it.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 Trowell Services

The services sit on the stretch between Junction 25 and Junction 26, which the Department for Transport counts at 139,549 vehicles a day — the 10th busiest of the 42 measured stretches of M1 mainline. Of those, 18,029 are lorries, 12.9% of the traffic.

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