{{Short description|Motorway service station in Cheshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox Motorway Services |image = M6 - Sandbach services.jpg |image_caption = The southbound services building |name = Sandbach Services |road = M6 |county = Cheshire |operator = Roadchef |previousoperator = |dateopened = 1976 |website = {{URL|https://www.roadchef.com/locations/sandbach}} |location_map = Cheshire#United Kingdom motorways |map_caption = Location in Cheshire, England##Location on the UK motorway network |coordinates = {{coord|53.1399|-2.3367|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}} }} '''Sandbach services''' is a motorway service station on the M6 near Sandbach, Cheshire, England.
== History == The site was built by Linked Group Construction, with a contract in August 1975 for £906,000.<ref>''Staffordshire Sentinel'' 8 August 1975, page 12</ref> The same Cheshire construction company would be given the £750,000 contract for Taunton Deane services, but the company collapsed before Taunton Deane was built.
The northbound side opened for fuel on 15 December 1975, with the southbound side opening before Christmas 1975. Both sides in 1975 had fuel and limited catering. Full catering would open in the summer of 1976. The site was opened for fuel at an earlier date, as the services at Knutsford and Keele were highly congested at peak times (and still are, notably the petrol at Knutsford).<ref>''Staffordshire Sentinel'' 16 December 1975, page 7</ref>
The services originally fully opened in July 1976 and have always been operated by Roadchef.
In 2004, Swiss catering inspectors, working on behalf of the AA and Continental motoring organisations, found that Sandbach Services were the worst of the 61 service stations they had visited.<ref>Paul Marston, "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1465249/UK-motorway-services-are-the-worst-in-Europe.html UK motorway services are the worst in Europe]", ''The Telegraph'', 23 June 2004, retrieved 18 July 2012</ref> In August 2011, it was rated as three stars by quality assessors at Visit England.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitengland.org/busdev/bussupport/qadays/Consultancy.aspx |title=Consultancy Services : VisitEngland Corporate Site |accessdate=2011-11-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318105616/http://www.visitengland.org/busdev/bussupport/qadays/Consultancy.aspx |archivedate=18 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The arrests of two men in connection with the failed Glasgow bombing were conducted in the vicinity of Sandbach Services in 2007.<ref>Richard Holt, Duncan Gardham, and David Millward, "Glasgow terror attack: two more arrests", ''The Telegraph'', 2 July 2007, retrieved 18 July 2012</ref>
==Location== The services are located between junctions 16 and 17 of the M6 on both sides of the carriageway. The nearest town is Sandbach.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://www.roadchef.com/locations/sandbach}} {{Motorway service station succession box | road = M6 motorway | labels = s-n | before = Keele | after = Knutsford }}
{{Motorway service stations in the United Kingdom}}
Category:1975 establishments in England Category:Buildings and structures in Sandbach Category:Economy of Cheshire Category:M6 motorway service stations Category:RoadChef motorway service stations Category:Transport in Cheshire Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1975
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