Ove the past few months I have been campaigning to keep a snack wagon on the A153 near Sleaford. Since the beginning of the year, my friend Carol, owner of Danielle’s Diner,and I have had numerous press articles, tv, and radio interviews and a petition with 1,071 signatures were collected. This petition was handed over to the NKDC and last week the local village of Wilsford approved the application for Carol to trade from the lay-by. The next step at the end of July will be the planning meeting at Sleaford and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be accepted. Will keep you posted and anyone passing the snack wagon, please call in and have a chat with Carol. She cooks great food and her regular customers are mainly truckers as there is nowhere else to stop for a break on this stretch of road.
I don’t actually use snack wagons or cafes generally as I only do local ( ish ) work but used to try and support any good eateries I found when I travelled farther afield.
Hope your friend gets permission to carry on.
Its a rarity when i NEED to use one, That idiot on the A1 near the Huntingdon life place is enough to make anyone use a proper cafe.
The MAJORITY of them are unclean and need shutting down anyway.
In saying that though Jammy,anyone who has bothered there arse to find a site like TN,and gone to great lengths,it would seem,to facilitate drivers,and get approval from the council and health department,gets the nod from me,however,as they say,the proof is in the eating.
I for one will visit this establishment if I’m in the area, (And I have a soft spot for Lincolnshire.) and while I tend to agree with your final statement,let’s not castigate these people until we’ve had feedback.
I’m also guessing that Scanialady will will be familiar with the old Trent autograss track that used to be at South Rauceby farm?
Ken.
Ive had a butty from this very snack bar in my time and couldnt fault it.
Why do snack vans always seem to close and go home between 14.30 and 15.00 - just as I’m getting peckish ?
The MAJORITY of them are unclean and need shutting down anyway.
Well this cannot be intirely true as the local food hygeine people do make a point of patrolling these regularly parked snack wagons and will leap on the smallest thing if it is not up to scratch.
I speak from experience as i came off the road for two years and ran a small wagon myself so know all about the rules that have to be applied to keep these road side snackeries up to scratch.
Dont forget drivers can vote with thier wheels and if you serve tham a bad sarnie they wont be back.
I earned myself a good name and drivers travelled the extra mile to come and eat at mine.
Most wagons are well kept, clean and have a food hygeine certificate prominently displayed.
I personally would rather eat at a decent wagon where I can see the food being cooked than at a dubious cafe where you cant see inside the kitchen and anything could be going on in there!! 
Snack wagons dont get mice or cockroaches either, The little devils cant climb that high and the place is so small you would see them at one.
You cant drop a sausage on the floor then throw it in the pan as you are on view - unlike a cafe.
There are bad wagons i am sure but these are easy to spot.
There are bad cafes but they too are not so easy to spot. A nice decor can hide a multitude of sins behind a closed door.
I recall the ‘Cheerio’ Caff down that way. Is it still there?
fox
Well, I had a bacon and spam barm at ‘Waters Reach in Trafford Park today and it wor’ grand, like.
£1.80 - bargain - nee brew.
Blingy lass with a ring in her belly button - didn’t put me off though.
fox
I never use layby snack bars, where do the people who serve the food go to the bog and when they do how do they wash their hands… 
Smee:
I never use layby snack bars, where do the people who serve the food go to the bog and when they do how do they wash their hands…
They ■■■■ up the side of their vans and wipe their hands on their aprons…
They ■■■■ up the side of their vans and wipe their hands on their aprons…
That was actually true of the one in the lay by,near the A63/A1 junction,near the Selby fork hotel.I only know this,because a friend of mine who was in construction at the time,actually witnessed it happen. 
As for the local health authority visiting,well I can confirm this as well,because I was delivering to the big industrial estate at Featherstone,just recently,and after tipping,went to the butty bar that I spied on the way in,and upon visiting it,the local inspector was there,giving it the once over.
Ken.
if the health inspectors are doing their job properly, there should be staff hand washing facilities in the butty van separate from the washing up sink 
They ■■■■ up the side of their vans and wipe their hands on their aprons…
They usually have an arrangement with a local company to use their facilities - as I did.
Some of the bigger wagons have a built in toilet like they have in caravans. If anyone thinks thats a bad idea then what is the difference from having an inside loo at home. As long as you wash your hands there is no problem.
My friend tells me she does not drink when working and therefore does not need to have a pee, she also has a sink for food washing and a hand wash sink.
I used to own and run one in 91/92 on the A43 west of the A47 roundabout on the way to Corby, it had 2 toilets on the back and a sit down area inside that seated about 5. The raw ingredients were the best and we didn’t cut any corners.
One of my abiding memories though is a complaint about baked beans not being hot enough, this came about really as I had been generous with the portion ( there was about 1 and 3/4 portin left in the tub and I wanted to clean tub and put new large tin of beans in so dished up all the remainder ) and forgot to adjust the microwaving time. It stands out more than all the compliments ( including being told by an American that the burgers he and his wife had were the best that he had eaten since leaving the States 4 months before to go on their campervan tour of Europe ).
Had one trucker who had come in several times a couple of months before who travelled past several places he could have eaten on his way from Gloucester way to somewhere on the way to Norwich just to have one of our breakfasts, he was quite surprised when I remembered his name.
Eventually packed it in when the Council were forced by the Dept of Transport to allow another caterer in the layby on the other side of the road about half a mile closer to the A47 roundabout. This killed all the casual trade from that direction and took about £50 a day off the takings, still kept all our regulars but the loss of so much meant that we just couldn’t afford to keep going as we were and I wasn’t prepared to start cutting corners so we packed it in before we started to owe people money.
It was the Eureka Diner if anyone remembers it and hello to any old customers, enjoyed the times but it most definitely was not a licence to print money as a lot of people think it was. Cost me £100 a month just to insure the trailer before I sold a single bacon butty.
You aways know the good ones by the amount of trucks parked up as you pass. I can think of at least half a dozen in Lincolnshire area that are nearly always busy from opening to closing.
There was once one nr Sutton Bridge last year I stopped and wandered up but he was sat on the food prep area so I changed my mind! Havent seen him trading for over a year I wonder why?
id be more worried about the suppliers than the people who cook it, some of the food places i deliver to a sight for sore eyes.
que, the waggon that turned up with blood pouring out of it after a pallet of liver had gone over, blood everywhere , big debate between production and q.control ,quess who one , another one where q.control check fridge temp then stick a tempature probe in it , all o.k , f.l.t then takes pallet off and drops it in yard in sun , still there when i left after 45 .
unless its out of your garden you take a risk whatever you eat
oh yea and my 3 rd drop yesterday was at a place that does salads etc ,and its next[i mean next] to drax power station .
i thought salads were healthy