Donington Park services
| Donington Park Services | |
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The main building
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 Donington Park services (Leicestershire)
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| Information | |
| County: | Leicestershire |
| Road: | M1 |
| Coordinates: | 52°49′25″N 1°18′21″W / 52.823651°N 1.305887°WCoordinates: 52°49′25″N 1°18′21″W / 52.823651°N 1.305887°W |
| Operator: | Moto Hospitality |
| Previous operator(s): | Granada |
| Date opened: | 1999 |
| Website: | Moto |
Donington Park services is a motorway service station off the M1 motorway, A453 and A42 interchange (junction 23a) near Kegworth, England.
It is owned by Moto and offers 20% discounts to all RAC members. The site also has the world's smallest branch of Marks and Spencer Simply Food.
It shares its name with Donington Park, a racing circuit, which is also next to East Midlands Airport - the former RAF Castle Donington. It is situated in the parish of Long Whatton and Diseworth, and the religious parish of St Michaels & All Angels, Diseworth.
It opened on 8 July 1999, being originally owned by Granada, which became Moto in 2001. It was one of the first to offer a whole set of non-food shops, similar to an airport, which now has been adopted as standard. The neighbouring airport has far fewer landside facilities for those awaiting arrivals (before check-in).
On 25 April 2008 Greg James presented the BBC Radio 1 Early Morning Breakfast Show live from Donington Park Services.
As an integral part of Newsnight's 2010 General Election coverage, it set up home in the Travelodge, and interviewed workers on-site in the run-up to the election from 7 April, to gauge public opinion. The correspondent on-site was named Motorway Man. It is thought by psephologists that 'swing voters' habituate such service stations, and many live nearby - North West Leicestershire, the home seat is a marginal seat. In previous elections, such voters were labelled Mondeo Man. The idea received a very negative critical response. One example is Grace Dent's scathing summary:
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