A motorway services area in Lancashire which has been dubbed the worst in Britain is to get a major overhaul, its new owner has said.

The Bolton West services on the M61 at Chorley attracted the most negative rankings on the Motorway Services website last year.

Forecourt operator Euro Garages, which acquired the site in the summer, will now embark on a major redevelopment progra Alongside a reputation for poor facilities and service standards, the site is known as the location for the pilot episode of comedy That Peter Kay Thing.

Darwen, Lancashire-based Euro Garages, which was recently listed in the Sunday Times largest mid-market companies, currently runs around 80 forecourts.

It was founded nine years ago by the Issa family and has become a £250m turnover business through the acquisition and redevelopment of run-down petrol filling stations. Its sites offer convenience retail stores in conjunction with Spar and also fast food outlets such as Subway.

In a full year trading update published this week, the company said fuel and retail sales increased 5% on an annual basis in the year to July 31. Profits were 25% higher at £9.1m.

It has acquired 10 sites since January, while recent additions have included an 11-acre site in Ashby-de-la-Zouche in Leicestershire, a three-acre site in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire and a location in Blackburn which will house the company's head office building and flagship forecourt.

The site will be used as a training facility for its 700 employees and an innovation centre for testing new technologies and services.

The company added that a planning application for the M61 services redevelopment will be submitted within weeks.