"However, in December 2008, after a change in the law, the only current official 'rest area' in the UK was created at Todhills, on the newly opened section of the M6 between Carlisle and the Scottish border."
I've noticed a few of these on the A1(M), though I don't remember the locations. Most probably on the northernmost A1(M) stretch, though possibly on the South Yorkshire stretch. I presumed these were built/opened before the road was upgraded to motorway, and may have met the criteria for being called "Services" on an A road but don't meet the stricter criteria for being called "Services" on a motorway and so are signposted as "Rest area". Does this mean these are unofficial rest areas, or that this statement is out of date? — Smjg (talk) 23:11, 5 December 2019 (UTC)
- I've just discovered that Motorway service area claims there are three "rest areas" – the other two being Leeming Bar and Scotch Corner. I guess those must have been the ones I was thinking of. So it seems we have a contradiction.... — Smjg (talk) 22:43, 6 December 2019 (UTC)
It was me that added the text about there being three official Rest Areas to the Motorway Service Area page. I based that on the reference I added there: https://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/Rest_area. That seems like a reasonably authoritative site. But I have no primary knowledge of this, and I am very happy for a consensus to emerge that there is only one, or three, or whatever the truth is, and both pages be brought into congruence. I note that the two pages also diverge on when the process of switching from the operators leasing the sites to owning them started.Johnstoo (talk) 10:07, 7 January 2020 (UTC)