A Cold War bunker in Gravesend has been listed today by Heritage Minister Ed Vaizey on the advice of English Heritage.

The Civil Defence Bunker has been listed at Grade II as a rare surviving example of a purpose-built civil defence control centre.

It was a command post in the event of a Soviet air attack during the Cold War and is evocative of a time when the threat of nuclear destruction overshadowed all spheres of national life.

The bunker, under Woodlands Park in Wrotham Road, was built in 1954 as a command post to co-ordinate relief to the town and surrounding areas in the event of a nuclear attack.

In this building, staffed by around 35 people, information from air raid wardens of an attack would have been received and orders issued to civil defence and emergency services.

It was operational from 1954 until 1968, has now been restored and is open to the public on occasion.

Mr Vaizey said: "Everyone knows that England has a fine and wonderful built heritage. But it's sometimes forgotten that we have many outstanding modern buildings too.

"Our architects are among the best in the world and it's absolutely right that their finest work is afforded the same protection as their historic forebears.

"The buildings and structures I am listing today demonstrate this well.

"Innovative, exciting and eye-catching, they each in different ways show that architecture in this country is very much alive and well in the modern world."