DfT has ‘no plans’ to extend truckstop funding scheme
There are no current plans to open further rounds of the government match-funding scheme to improve roadside facilities for truck drivers, a minister has confirmed.
Since 2023, the Department for Transport (DfT) has provided three tranches of top-up funding to operators of truckstops and motorway service areas to increase truck parking space numbers and improve security and driver welfare facilities.
The scheme made up to £43 million available in combined department and industry funding for site improvements.
In a parliamentary question tabled last month, the shadow transport secretary Richard Holden asked: “whether the Department plans to extend the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Grant Scheme beyond March 2026; and what assessment has been made of the impact of project withdrawals, scope reductions and planning refusals on the delivery of additional HGV parking capacity?”
Replying for the government, the transport minister Keir Mather said: “There are no plans for further windows of the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare Matched Funding Scheme (MFGS).
“To date 16 projects have been withdrawn by the operators. It is estimated that this is a reduction of up to 177 proposed additional HGV parking spaces.
“There are no significant impacts on the number of parking spaces where projects have undergone scope reduction.”
Meanwhile Redbeck Motel, a much-loved Yorkshire truckstop, has closed down. The site will be used for housing.
Situated on the A638 Doncaster to Wakefield road, the Redbeck was an institution of the Yorkshire road transport industry for decades, open 24/7, and renowned for its famous traditional English breakfasts.
As a haunt for night owls as well as night trunkers, it served a diverse market since opening in 1969, playing host to musicians including Sir Tom Jones, Diana Ross, Dame Shirley Bassey, and The Three Degrees. Demolition plans were opposed by The Wakefield Civic Society, and Crofton Parish Council on cultural, environmental and economic grounds.
