Birch Services

Birch Service station is a motorway service station located on the M62 motorway between Junction 18 (M60) and Junction 19 Heywood, close to Rochdale and Bury. There are two sides to the service station, the Eastbound services being quite old and the Westbound services being more modern. The services opened in 1972.

Birch Services
The modern westbound services
Birch Services (Greater Manchester)
Information
CountyGreater Manchester
RoadM62
Coordinates:53.567387°N 2.230969°W / 53.567387; -2.230969
OperatorMoto
Date opened1972
Websitewww.moto-way.com

In September 1989 the services were the location for the murder of Inspector Raymond Codling of the Greater Manchester Police. There is a memorial on the westbound side.

2003 fire

The westbound amenity building was destroyed in a massive fire on 9 October 2003. After losing large sums of cash in a slot machine, Jason New started kicking it to get his money back. He then went to the shop, bought a lighter, and set fire to the machine. By 1am the whole westbound side of the services were alight and evacuated. It took 70 fire-fighters four hours to bring the blaze under control.[1][2]

Rebuilding

Whilst the site was being rebuilt, temporary facilities were provided. The petrol station, motel and eastbound services were not affected but were evacuated for safety reasons. The new services cater for 242 cars, 120 lorries and 30 coaches. When it was opened, Moto described the new building as being "the most modern on the motorway network".[3]

References
  1. "Gambler set fire to motorway services". 17 November 2004. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  2. "Fire destroys M62 services". BBC. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 21 September 2014.

Moto official site - Birch Services Eastbound

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