A RELAXATION zone is to be introduced at Leigh Delamere service station on the M4 near Chippenham to help drivers switch off.

The rooms have been designed to let drivers unwind in a quiet atmosphere which will be furnished with plain seating, white walls and subtle lighting.

Operator Moto plans to have the room ready in a month's time.

The company has 47 sites across the country catering for 120 million travellers every year.

It said it launched the rooms to help drivers relax from the stresses of motorway driving.

Moto's managing director Tim Moss said: "These contemplation rooms provide a little oasis of calm where people can unwind."

A recent survey revealed that up to 20 per cent of accidents are caused by driver fatigue.

BSM's education programme manager Andy Brown said the relaxation zones were a good idea.

"The driver's concentration will be at its best for a maximum of two hours, after which you need to take a rest. These relaxation rooms are the right way to go," he said.

The zones were the idea of IT project manager Ghulam Rasool, of Basildon, Essex, who responded after Moto asked readers of a motoring magazine for ideas to improve their service areas.

He said the rooms were needed to allow the mind to slow down.

"I spend a lot of time driving up and down the motorways.

"It struck me how useful it would be to have somewhere where drivers could just chill out and stop their brains moving at 70 miles an hour," he said.

"I think it's very brave of Moto to be the first to try contemplation rooms, but I believe they will be very well used."