New service station named after closed pub opens on road connecting A583 and M55

A long-awaited new service station in the suburbs of Preston is fully operational after Greggs became the last of the site’s outlets to begin trading.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that around 50 jobs have been created in total across the five brands that make up the Saddle Inn Services – named after the historic pub that used to stand on the plot.

The 24-hour facility was built as part of the development of the Preston Western Distributor Road – connecting the A583 Blackpool Road with a new junction 2 on the M55 at Higher Bartle – which opened exactly 12 months ago. However, it was almost a further year before the services started up alongside the £207m dual carriageway.

Located on the corner of the new road – now officially known as Edith Rigby Way – and William Young Way, another route created as part of the same project, the service station began to open in phases during the latter part of the spring.

The arrival of Greggs at the end of June completed the line-up, when the bakery chain joined a Spar, a Subway and a drive-thru Starbucks branch on the site.

The businesses are based around a petrol forecourt operating under the “EG on the Move” moniker – part of the Blackburn-based EG Group, founded by the multi-billionaire Issa brothers.

The LDRS has been told that the number of jobs generated by the service station has been maximised by employing dedicated individuals to work within each of the distinct facilities, rather than sharing them.

EG on the Move has now submitted an application to Preston City Council for permission for a raft of advertising and directional signage on the site.

The Saddle Inn was flattened almost two years ago as part of the Preston Western Distributor Road’s construction.

The hostelry was thought to have been founded in the location more than 300 years ago. However, it struggled in the final decade of its centuries-long existence, enduring periods of closure in 2015, 2017 and 2019, before time was called for good at the height of the pandemic in December 2020.

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