Sick of paying a small fortune to eat rubbish meals or refuel at motorway service stations?

The price hike we pay for convenience is absurd. Petrol can cost more than 5% higher than average. Food and drink prices are massively marked up. Even a bottle of water can set you back £2.

It’s an additional kick in the pants after what is often a pretty depressing consumer experience. Having to hop skip your way past bored insurance salesman at the entrance and into a world of luke warm food and hospital lighting is the last thing you want after a long drive.

And why do they always sell really old CDs and other bizarre tat in these places? It’s like Celine Dion and Timmy Mallet teamed up to do a sales task on the Apprentice. It’s bad enough stumbling around in tired daze without having to worry that you might trip over a giant inflatable animal, or 4,000 piece screwdriver set.

Well, no more! Some clever soul has made a website called 5minutesaway.co.uk [ED: please note this site is currently down] to provide us with an alternative.

The premise is simple. You can do a search on the site for the motorway junction (or follow the links in the sidebar) and it’ll provide you with local shops, restaurants and petrol stations within 5 minutes distance from where you are.

Great idea and a real boon for local businesses. Chances are you’ll get better food and cheaper services for very little hassle. Good stuff.