UK driving (and sleeping)

An illness over the last few years means I can no longer drive for long distances without taking a rest/sleeping.

Here in Ireland I generally pull into a small town (Church car parks are great!), lock the doors, lower back the seat and have my 'power nap'. I keep a pillow/eye mask/ blanket in the car and have never had a problem.

I'm heading to the UK next month and will be driving for long enough that I will need to take my breaks; can I pull in and sleep in service stations? is that a good idea? Irish reg cars tend to get more scrutiny in my experience.

Advice welcome.

I think that's a reasonable plan, lorry drivers are doing it all the time without incident and service stops are well signposted on the motorways.

Large service areas with plenty of parking - including Costa Coffee, Tesco Express etc. - line UK motorways. They're specifically designed for people to take a rest. Snoozing in your car will not be a problem. The Irish Registration isn't a problem either.

I did this in a service station on the M4 some time back, when I felt I was too tired to drive safely. Was driving an Irish reg. No disturbances, and best hour's kip ever.

If you are going into Holyhead, then there is a great stopover place on Anglesey called Lastra Farm.

We used it going to Ireland and also on the return. We had booked the Fastcat in both directions, but on the return leg it was cancelled and we had to use the ferry which obviously put us into Holyhead very late. We had contacted Lastra to let them know we would be very delayed and they left a key and food for us. In the morning we were far too late for breakfast but they insisted that we couldn't go off without something to eat and cooked the full monty for us. Very caring people.

If you are doing motorway travel you should be fine. There are service stops every few miles along the motorways and they are generally very busy and well lit with petrol stations. restuarants etc under one roof.

I was sleeping in a service station a few year back a policeman tapped on my window, he could not trace my registration to the DVLS, my reg was SI 1 he was happy when I told him it was Irish