A building towering over the UK's longest motorway has been abandoned for years, despite once homing a fine-dining restaurant with a fancy sun terrace.

Looking like something straight out of a sci-fi film, the Pennine Tower is a space-age structure that still stands tall between , but has been left to rot for decades. Built in 1965, the tower was once an eatery and quickly became the epitome of motorway fine dining.

Guests travelling up and down the UK could have a much deserved rest-stop, before tucking into luxury meals such as lobster and steak - all whilst soaking up views of Morecambe Bay from the 90-foot high tower at . It's a stark contrast to many of the UK's motorway service stations today, which exclusively serve up simple sandwiches and fast food.

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Costing a whopping £885,000 back then, which would total around £14million today, Pennine Tower represented a considerable investment in the travel infrastructure of the era. The service station itself was among Britain's first, offering amenities for a burgeoning motorist population, complete with an enclosed bridge linking facilities on both carriageways, reports .

The restaurant had capacity to serve 120 customers, but with modern day fire regulations, this number would be much lower now. Despite its innovative design and amenities including self-service cafeterias and areas for lorry drivers, the tower's restaurant fell from grace rather quickly.

Acclaimed food critic Egon Ronay lambasted its offerings as 'an insult to one's taste buds' in 1978. Reports suggest the restaurant lost a staggering £700 loss during the first three months of 1967 - despite the boom in motoring-dining.

"Fast forward a few years and cost-cutting was having an an additional impact, plus social changes and driving becoming less leisurely all meant that the tower's prospects were bleak," states . "Most of Rank's restaurants were soon struggling to make any money, and the unique running costs and impracticality of the tower meant it was especially difficult to justify."

After shifting to a trucker's lounge, the top-tier dining area eventually closed its doors in 1989, leaving only its structural shell behind as a haunting milestone for highway drivers. The iconic Pennine Tower, once a symbol of modernist optimism on the M6, was later granted Grade II listed status by Historic England in 2012 for its 'popularist architecture' and as a landmark for motorists.

Despite its previous life as offices and storage space, the interior has fallen into disrepair, with recent photos revealing an echo of its former grandeur through dilapidated décor and shabby green carpets. Although still under Moto's ownership, the Forton services remain busy, but the Pennine Tower itself is off-limits to visitors.

This unusual structure, seemingly plucked from a science fiction landscape, continues to evoke a mix of curiosity and nostalgic memories among passers-by. But for the moment, the imposing tower lies dormant, a mute spectator of traffic streaming by on the M6.

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