CRI听力:Britain's 1st Motorway Pub Opens amid Criticism

Pulling one of the first pints at the UK's first motorway pub.

The "Hope and Champion" pub is open for business at junction 2 of the M40 motorway in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, a road that links central England to London and beyond.

It's run by the pub chain JD Wetherspoon and is open 21 hours a day, seven days a week.

While roadside bars are more common elsewhere in Europe, the opening of one at a service station in the UK has become a big talking point, and is dividing public opinion.

"Drink and driving? Bad idea."

"You've got pubs everywhere anyway, so if you want a drink, you would pop into any pub. So, if there's a pub here, I don't think there's a problem."

"It's got to be probably the stupidest idea anyone has come up with in a long time."

There is an electronic screen in the pub warning people about drunk driving, but health and alcohol campaigners don't think it's enough.

They say erecting the pub by a motorway is an irresponsible move.

Sir Ian Gilmore is a special adviser at Britain's Royal College of Physicians.

"I don't believe for one minute that warnings will make it, OK. A driver, who has been driving for 200 miles, he feels he needs a pick me up, he says the bar there, he's much more likely to have a drink than if there isn't one there at all and just do not believe this is responsible behaviour by retailers of alcoholic products."

But the company behind the pub says it will be "well run" and there shouldn't be any problems.

Edward Gershon is the spokesman for JD Wetherspoons.

"A lot of sales will be soft drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, tea and coffee. We will be serving alcohol and we have no doubt that some people will be drinking alcohol. But those same people if they wanted, could come from home, get in the car, drive on a motorway, having drunk alcohol. They can go off the motorway to a pub and get back on the motorway. We believe that in a well-run pub like ours, there should be no problems at all."

The "Hope and Champion" will sell real ale from local and regional brewers, as well as soft drinks and hot, non-alcoholic beverages.

That was Ning Yan reporting on the opening of Britain's first motorway pub.