1950s nuclear bunker in Pontefract up for sale

• Video report by Helen Steel.

A fully restored 1950s nuclear bunker which has been used as a children's den by the current owners is up for auction, with a £15,000 price tag.

The Royal Observer Corp property, in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, is one of only 1,500 that were built after the Cold War to provide protection for three people during a nuclear attack.

Current owner, Jon Graves, fitted the small space with a bunk bed and toilet and has had several sleepovers over the last four years.

"We went for the biggest thing we could possible find for the kids to play in, but we've had a ball. We kind of reenacted history and imagined what they would do in the past," he said.

"I thought it was reasonable enough for us to purchase it and we've had lots of fun so I think it's a sensible price. Hopefully someone will pick it up and have as much fun as we have with it."

The bunker, on New Road in Badsworth, was designed to identify a nuclear threat and was manned by civilian volunteers. It is said to be the location where the first threat from the Chernobyl nuclear plant was detected when a reactor exploded in 1986.

According to auctioneers SDL Property Auctions, it comes with a "fenced plot of land with decking and some outstanding views".In details published on Rightmove, the company said: "Most of these sites were decommissioned and sold off in 1993 and we have been informed that many were bought up by telecom companies and now are sites for mobile phone masts as they were built as telecommunication posts so they are positioned in very favourable locations."

Andrew Parker, auctioneer and partner at SDL, said: "There are only a handful of Royal Observer Corp bunkers left in the country so to have this lot for sale in our auction is quite unusual.

"Some of the interested parties are simply curious to see what the inside of a nuclear bunker looks like, however, many are genuinely considering purchasing to secure their own piece of history."

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