A nuclear bunker has sold at auction for £18,000.

The property for sale with Clive Emson auctioneers exceeded the pre-sale guide price of £10,000 to £15,000.

Although it wasn't the most attractive des res it was certainly a lot cheaper and a fair bit safer than the average two-up two-down.

The subterranean construction on the Peninsula Way north of Hoo was built in the 1950s as part of a network of bunkers across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It was designed to provide shelter for two or three people for several weeks.

It now "boasts" an exterior overgrown with ivy, a rusting hatchway, and a dank interior lacking in any kind of decoration.

Auctioneers Clive Emson did not go overboard with floral descriptions for the property to "plenty of potential".

“Entrance is by a vertical ladder that goes 15 feet underground to the interior that consists of a large room,” says the no-nonsense press release.

What has been bagged today is what is known as a “master post” – the most important of a cluster of such bunkers.

John Stockey, auctioneer and familiar figure on BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer, said before the auction: “This is a fascinating part of Cold War history, and the bunker is in a plot of 0.09 acres.

“The bunker extends to around 7 by 15 feet, and was constructed with concrete and compacted soil on top.

“These constructions could reduce any external nuclear radiation by a factor of 1,500:1.

“They were not designed as protection from a nuclear bomb but so that the range and level of nuclear fall-out could be measured.”

The auction was at the Clive Emson Conference Centre, Kent County Showground in Maidstone.

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