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Secret Second World War air-raid shelter tunnels for sale: 5 million pounds

Aspiring Blofelds will have to shell out a cool £5 million for the mile-long, James Bond-villain style, warren of tunnels buried 100 feet below High Holborn.

The Kingsway Tunnels have a history that could grace the pages of any Ian Fleming or John le Carré novel.

Built in 1940 as deep air-raid shelters, they have since been used as a "reserve war room", a Public Records Office repository - for 400 tons of secret documents - and the telephone exchange which connected the Cold War hotline between the presidents of the US and USSR.

It was built to hold 8,000 people during air raids, and in its days as a long-distance telephone exchange housed around 80 workers, who enjoyed a canteen and recreation room complete with a snooker table.

BT put the site up for sale in 1996 but failed to find a buyer, but now the company hopes to find a Government department or large company to move in and make the site productive again.

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)