Once a luxurious bunker built to save the royal family from a nuclear attack, it now lies rotting – and you can visit it

A FORGOTTEN bunker built to save the royal family from a nuclear attack is open to visitors.

Decades ago, the bunker was built 100 feet underground in case catastrophic warfare broke out.

The graffiti-strewn bunker was built in the event of a nuclear attack

The bunker was built 30 meters undergroundCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd

These rooms would have housed members of the royal family

RAF personnel at work in the Cold War Barnton bunker in Edinburgh in the 1950s

The historic site at Barnton Quarry, near Edinburgh, was built in the 1950s amid fears of Soviet war threats. current – and remained secret until the 1980s.

The British government has drawn up plans to target senior officials and… Royal family safe in the Barnton bunker if their worst fears came true.

Deep underground, just six kilometers from the capital, it served as the Sector Operations Center for coordination RAF fighter jets.

And it protected too Scotland from the attack by Russian long-range bombers until about 1960.

But it was later repurposed to become a regional seat of government in the event of a nuclear attack, designed to house 400 politicians and officials for up to 30 days.

The creepy, deserted rooms are hardly fit for a queen, without even a trace of them luxury or creature comforts.

The floors are filled with dirt or bare wood, and dust and debris are scattered throughout the vast empty spaces.

It was sold in 2005 to James Mitchell, owner of Scotland’s Secret Bunker, who carried out restoration work with a team of volunteers.

The owner now plans to open Barnton Quarry Nuclear Bunker to the public as a museum after plans were approved by Edinburgh City Council.

One of the largest underground military sites in Britain, the Barnton Quarry Nuclear Bunker was built over three floors.

Inside London’s secret nuclear bunker, hidden in a town hall, with a control center in the basement, frozen in time since the Cold War

The bunker was used as a control center where information was analyzed and became a base for a radar air defense system.

The structure even contained one BBC broadcast studio, and was large enough to house 400 people, including members of the military Policeand the fire and ambulance services.

Because the Cold War never escalated into a nuclear war, the bunker was no longer in use in the 1980s.

But in the 1990s it fell victim to vandals who set it on fire and raided the interior in search of scrap metal.

The bunker was one of 38 built in Britain and measured 37,000 square meters.

An old telephone exchange is the only remnant of the original purpose of the underground area.

Meanwhile, a huge metal pipe, big enough for men and women to crawl into, appears to be the main defense against a nuclear explosion.

A description on Barnton Bunker’s official website reads: “Our mission is to restore the historic 1940s RAF and Cold War nuclear bunker into a fully operational visitor attraction, with the intention of opening its doors for guided tours with hard hats.

“The Barnton Bunker Restoration Project has completely stripped the ‘shell’ of the bunker to authentically restore it to how it once was and turn the bunker into a visitor attraction and meeting and conference facility.”