Are you sick of lonely motorway service stations offering a limp sandwich and a coffee for £6.50? Not a big fan of fast-food restaurants and gambling machines tinkling in the background?

Then the new Gloucester Services could be your perfect motorway pit-stop, assuming you use the M5 route on occasion.

What makes this station special is that it will not feature coffee and burger chains - nor will it have arcade machines or one-armed bandits. It will offer a range of locally-sourced foodstuffs, from wild boar sausages to mature cheeses.

Behind the bold scheme is the Westmorland family, credited with creating the very popular Tebay Services in Cumbria, where homemade food has been made available to hungry motorists since 1972.

And while there will be plenty of homemade and artisan delicacies available, drivers will still be able to enjoy perennial classics such as fish and chips, pies and pizzas – all made with high quality ingredients and freshly produced on site.

Motoring vegetarians will also be saved from having to make do with a plate of cardboard-flavour chips for sustenance. Food market favourite The Parsnipship will present peckish veggies and vegans with such wonders as the Glamorgan Crumble – filled with local mature cheddar and leeks.

So if you ever need breakdown cover on the M5, keep your fingers crossed that it happens near Gloucester Services – and we'll be over to help in a jiffy.

By Craig Hindmarsh