'Abandoned UFO' on the M6 was a striking vision of the future

It's a familiar site to anyone who regularly drives on the M6, but for the uninitiated, one building's unusual design will have had some motorists doing a double-take. Forton Services, near Lancaster, was built to service users of the newly built 13.5 mile stretch of the M6 connecting the Lancaster bypass and Preston bypass in 1965.

But it was the northern end of the services that the most striking feature of the services was built. Towering 90ft above the motorway, Pennine Tower, with its futuristic, hexagonal design was constructed as a glamorous restaurant to entice hungry motorists.

Built by the Top Rank organisation, it resembled a UFO and commanded unrivalled views of Morecambe Bay and the fells and even had an observation platform. When it opened, the 150-seater Pennine Tower was Britain's highest motorway restaurant.

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With the birth of Britain's motorway network in the late 1950s, the service station was one of the earliest. It was part of an ambitious vision of revolutionising travel across Britain for the growing number of car owners.

Forton Services - like many older service stations - has an all-weather enclosed bridge which enables pedestrians to use both the northbound and southbound amenities. And alongside the stunning tower restaurant, the motorway stop-off was built with two self-service cafeterias on either side of the motorway, nappy changing facilities, and showers for lorry drivers.

But the most exciting feature was undoubtedly the Pennine Tower fine-dining restaurant, which had