§ Dr. Glynasked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement on the provision of motorway services at Warren Copse on the M4 near Reading.
§ Mr. FowlerOn 22 January 1973 the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport said in response to a question from my hon. Friend that the Department's application to develop a motorway service area at Warren Copse on the M4 near Reading would be withdrawn. I have decided to uphold that decision and I shall not revive the application.
There is currently a 56-mile gap on the M4 between services at Heston in West London and Membury 10 miles to the east of Swindon. This is twice the normal distance between services. I am today launching a public consultation exercise to examine the need for a motorway service area to fill this gap. At the same time I am inviting comments on where the services should be sited, if they are found to be necessary. The area of search will be restricted to the central section of this stretch of the M4 between junctions 10 and 12. The Warren Copse site will be excluded from the scope of the exercise.