Property boom! Nuclear bunker built during the Cold War is sold for £15,000

This may be the last word in sheltered accomodation – a nuclear bunker that has been snapped up for just £15,000.

The underground shelter was built during the heyday of the Cold War in 1958 to protect key personnel in the event of nuclear war.

It is accessed through a small reinforced concrete hatch and ladder which leads 20ft down to a shower, small kitchen, chemical toilet and beds.

The bunker, with its own air supply, was originally used during nuclear exercises by the Royal Observer Corps.

But for nearly half a century it has become damp and neglected beneath the fields of a farm in Wadhurst, East Sussex.

Landowner Matthew Bramall, 58, who was a young boy when it was built by the Ministry of Defence, has now sold it to an undisclosed buyer.

He said: “I wouldn’t want to live there – even if it meant surviving the Apocalypse. You’d just be stuck in the ground.

“It has been on the farm my whole life. When I was younger it was in use and soldiers would be posted there, but gradually they stopped coming back.”

He added: “I have been selling bits of land over the last few years, and finally decided to get rid of the shelter.

“I was going to do something with it, but then I decided that if I wanted to live underground, I would live somewhere bigger.

“It’s a total mess down there, and it’s filled with stuff left over from when it was being used.”

The new owner of the bunker has told Matthew he plans to renovate it so it can be used in the event of a catastrophe.

Russ McLean, who runs a unique property website, said the bunker sale was an opportunity to buy a unique piece of construction for not very much money.

He said: “They are really interesting and at a price you can afford, I’m not surprised this bunker was snapped up so quickly.

“It’s a time capsule from a period of history that we will hopefully never have to revisit.

“They were seen as a beacon of hope in a terrifying time, but now I think an anti-nuclear bunker would be the perfect place to hide from your angry wife.”

There are believed to be fewer than 1000 Cold War nuclear bunkers left in Britain.