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The Amesbury branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located at the junction of the A303 and A345 near the small town of Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Address and Onsite Facilities[]

ADDRESS: Countess Roundabout, Amesbury, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 7AS

ONSITE FACILITIES: Shell, Deli2Go (forecourt), Costa Express (forecourt), Burger King, Greggs, Subway, Travelodge (Book Room)

History[]

The Little Chef first opened in 1989/90 and was one of many Little Chef sites on the A303. The A303 is a road running from the M3 motorway in Hampshire to Honiton in Devon. It feeds many towns, intersects with many routes to the west and is often used by travellers escaping to Devon and Cornwall for a summer break. Thus, a Little Chef here would be sure to have plenty of passing trade and be able to attract a lot of long-distance traffic. Little Chef's owners Forte thought so too and, to maximise the restaurant's potential chose a location close to Salisbury, a large town in the area, to help encourage locals. The site chosen also had a filling station and Travelodge hotel and could be easily accessed by all traffic travelling on the A303 (and also the A345) so the Little Chef had all angles covered.

In 1994, the site gained a Coffee Stop in order to cater for those on the move. However, in the Granada era and along with many other Little Chef sites with Coffee Stop, it was later replaced with a Burger King.

In 2002, Amesbury received the "New Choices" Makeover, giving it some smart new furniture and access to exciting menus from Harry Ramsdens, Upper Crust, Wiseguys Pizza and Caffe Ritazza. 

In 2006, the branch gained a Coffee Tempo! outlet for those on the move. This was the first ever restaurant to receive a Coffee Tempo! outlet. This was short-lived and was one of the last outlets to close in 2012 and to become a Little Chef Express.

In 2011, Amesbury was one of the 10 sites to receive the "Wonderfully British" refurbishment. Wonderfully British was the follow-on, slightly tweaked version of the "Hestonised" site with slightly different interior finishes, new branding (Charlie lost his tray and instead had his arms open to welcome visitors) and Little Chef's new "grab and go" take-away option known as Good to Go. Unlike some other sites, Amesbury kept its Burger King as well which still trades alongside the main restaurant today.

Following the takeover by Euro Garages in 2017, Amesbury was one of a number sites converted to an EG Diner in January 2018. This was due to the expiration of Euro Garages' right to use the Little Chef brand name. However in June 2018, the EG Diner ceased trading and the Burger King closed for refurbishment. The Burger King has since reopened and a Greggs and Subway now trades in the former EG Diner space, alongside a Sainsbury's On The Go store. The latter became a SPAR in 2021, but was closed and later replaced with more Burger King seating.

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