One for the road: Wetherspoon to open first pub on the motorway
The new venue will open at Extra’s Motorway Service Area on the M40 (junction 2) at Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. Wetherspoon and Extra are jointly investing £2m on the development, which will create 50 jobs.
Wetherspoon has been given permission to operate 24 hours a day, with a licence granted by South Bucks District Council allowing it to serve alcohol from 8am to 1am all week.
“We are looking forward to opening our first licensed bar and restaurant on the motorway network,” said Martin. “The company has always been innovative and this is an exciting new development for us.
“Hopefully it will be the first of many Wetherspoon’s on the Motorway.”
Alcohol Strategy Consultation
Andrew Long, chief executive of Extra MSA Group, added: “Extra continues to invest in further improvements to its chain of MSAs and is committed to providing increased choice and competition for all customers on the Motorway Network.
“We are pleased to be working closely with JD Wetherspoon as an important new edition to Extra’s substantial complementary range of major and popular Tenant partner brands.”
Prior to placing the initial application for the premises licence, Wetherspoon representatives met with Thames Valley Police and South Bucks District Council to outline their plans - no representations on the application were received.
Section 176 of the Licencing Act ‘prohibits the sale of alcohol at motorway service areas and garages. But the recent Alcohol strategy consultation contained a proposal that service stations should be ‘excluded’ from the Act, allowing Local Authorities to grant the licence.
An opening date for the new bar and restaurant is as yet unknown, but it will serve food, coffee and other hot drinks together with a range of non-alcoholic drinks at all times.
