Self-catered holidays with your household will be allowed from April 12, meaning many Stroud residents may travel along the M5 or M4 for a well-earned staycation.

Ahead of lockdown restrictions easing, Which? revealed the motorway services you need to see and those customers found ‘utterly horrible,’ ‘dirty’ and ‘depressing’.

The best by far was Gloucester Services, between junctions 11A and 12, which received a customer score of 86 per cent.

Which? called it the gold standard of service stations, praising its designer feel, roof carpeted in grass and floor-to-ceiling windows.

They noted the views, the homecooked meals and the ‘fabulous’ farm shop, including ‘bread to rival any baker’ and regional cheeses, such as Hereford Hop.

“No wonder visitors called it an ‘essential part of a journey through Gloucestershire,” said the Which? editorial team.

If you’re going further along the M5, make sure you don’t stop at Bridgwater. “Even if you’re desperate for the toilet,” writes the editorial team at Which?, who gave the services a rating of just 37 per cent.

“Not only is it terrible, but by the time you’ve left the M5, navigated two roundabouts, found a space in the cramped split-level car park and contended with the confusing layout and crowds inside, you may as well have driven the extra 12 miles to either Sedgemoor,” they said.

“You’ll wish you had. Bridgwater earned one star in every category of our survey, including ease of social distancing and cleanliness, with recent visitors describing it as ‘dirty’, ‘depressing’ and ‘unsafe’, and others complaining of a urine smell and toilet paper strewn on the floor. Another simply said it ‘should be demolished’.”

Here are the customer ratings for all the M5 and M4 services to visit (or avoid):

M5

  1. Gloucester, Junction 11A-12: 86 per cent
  2. Taunton Deane, 25-26: 57 per cent
  3. Sedgemoor North, 21-22: 52 per cent
  4. Sedgemoor South, 22-21: 52 per cent
  5. Michaelwood, 13-14: 51 per cent
  6. Strensham, 7-8: 51 per cent
  7. Exeter, 30: 49 per cent
  8. Frankley, 3-4: 48 per cent
  9. Gordano, 19: 40 per cent
  10. Bridgwater, 24: 32 per cent

M4

  1. Leigh Delamere, 17-18: 57 per cent
  2. Reading, 11-12: 52 per cent
  3. Chieveley, 13: 49 per cent
  4. Membury, 14-15, 48 per cent
  5. Magor, 23A: 47 per cent