Secret nuclear bunker near Newquay sells for £140,000

The emergency bunker was built to protect essential services in the event of a nuclear war, was being auctioned by South West Water.

The bunker, in Coswarth, Newquay, was constructed in 1978 during the Cold War so experts at the then South West Water Authority could maintain water and sewerage operations even after a nuclear holocaust.

The 3,000 square foot bunker, built in 1978 to house 17 people - seven in the operations room, six in the communications room and three in the control room, had a guide price of £50,000.

Other features include several blast proof doors, an air lock, decontamination room, dining room, recreation room and two dormitories.

South West Water Asset Performance Manager Brian Blake, who worked for the authority at the time, said: “I remember that the Government said we had to provide an underground control centre in case of emergency which was bomb and nuclear proof. It wasn’t fully kitted out as there was no furniture in there, but if something had happened you could have lived in there for weeks.”

The company’s property manager Chris Shapland added: “We regularly auction redundant assets to reduce our costs and keep customers’ bills as low as possible, but this is the first time we’ve offered a genuine piece of cold war history.

“Novelty sites with small areas of surplus land always attract strong interest as people are able to invest relatively modest sums for their ‘little bit of England’. Several of our former storage reservoirs and pumping stations have been converted by their new owners into unusual homes.

“It will be interesting to see what happens to the bunker – you never know who could end up using it.”