A MYSTERY bidder is celebrating buying his very own nuclear bunker in Atherton.

The buyer, who does not want to be identified, paid £12,500 for the concrete underground shelter in an auction at Manchester Airport.

And he said he had bought the Cold War relic in the Breeze Hill area of Atherton because it was a place of interest for residents.

He said he wanted to preserve the bunker -- accessible through a two foot square metal hatch and a 15ft laddered shaft leading to two rooms -- so it could be seen by future generations.

The bunker was one of the more unusual properties sold at the auction by Pugh & Company Auctioneer Paul Thompson.

It attracted fierce competition from bidders who were looking to buy their own piece of history.

The new owner was not at the auction-- which attracted around 200 people -- but placed his bids via a representative over the telephone.

Bidding began at £2,000 but the price for Lot 148 rose sharply within minutes. As the price reached £12,000, the auctioneer told the telephone bidder's representative: "You're not going to miss out on a nuclear bunker for the sake of just £500?"

He instantly increased the bid by that amount.

The auctioneer announced: "There is one nuclear bunker coming your way."

The bunker was sold by Atherton businessman Mark Jones who bought it last year with fellow businessman Carl Ince for an undisclosed fee on Internet auction site eBay.

The bunker dates from the start of the Cold War and the increasing fear of nuclear attack during the 1950s.

It is accessible through a two-foot square metal hatch and a 15-foot laddered shaft leads to two rooms. The larger room measures 15ft by 7ft 6ins. There is a ventilation shaft and battery-powered lighting.

A spokesman for Pugh & Company said: "The buyer did not want any publicity, but he did say the reason for buying it was the bunker has always been a place of interest for locals and he wanted to preserve that."