They are underground, safe in a 3,000 sq ft bunker that was built to Swiss ‘gold standards’ guaranteeing their survival for at least 14 days.

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The group is an exception, with only a small percentage of UK citizens expected to outlive a nuclear blast on English soil.

That’s because the country’s remaining civil defence infrastructure has either been disbanded, destroyed or sold off since the close of the Cold War.

But for Nick, who built his protected shelter eight years ago, complacency amid current geopolitical tensions was not an option.

The construction expert exclusively told The Sun: “We were having a basement built and it just seemed appropriate to build it to Swiss civil defence standards.

“Sadly it takes years to do it properly and it cost me around the price of a small house… several hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“It’s quite significant in terms of size and going by Swiss standards we’d be able to house 50 people – but that wouldn’t be in luxury.”

In the 1980s, the Thatcher Government imposed regulations upon local authorities to make civil defence preparations.

This included zone headquarters, where regions around the UK had communal bunkers that could house up to 600 people.

However, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 – major threats to national security were said to be eliminated.

The ‘Peace Dividend’ – a political catchphrase to describe the economic benefit of a decrease in defence spending – kicked in and domestic defence infrastructure was sold off to redirect government funds elsewhere.

But according to the Institute for Strategic Studies, the world is once again entering a “dangerous decade” as global instability rises.

While the Government has assessed the risk of nuclear conflict as remote, it said threats were increasing in scale and complexity.

Most of the unease has been stoked by Russian President Vladimir Putin who put the West on notice amid his ill-fated campaign in Ukraine.

His war chest reportedly includes 5,580 nuclear warheads, with more than 300 being Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).

The savage weaponry can contain up to 800 kilotons of TNT – enough to flatten large cities like London or Washington.

Reaching a top speed around ten minutes after launch means an ICBM fired from Russia could also hit the UK in just 20 minutes.

This threat is coupled with retaliation from autocratic regimes like China, Iran and North Korea who have formed an “Axis of Evil” against Nato expansion.

‘It’s too late for this country’

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But due to costs surrounding bunkers, Nick claimed it would be very hard to reinstate the infrastructure needed to protect the public.

He said: “Those who have the resources seem to be building these structures, whereas in reality everyone should be entitled to some form of protection.

“These are expensive projects and that’s really why no government has ever undertaken a shelter program for this country.

“You probably want to be doing this in peacetime rather than in the build up to a crisis where there’d be shortage of materials and everyone else would be trying to achieve the same objective.

“Whereas in comparison to the Swiss, they brought in legislation that meant that every new building had to have a protected basement.

“They developed that process quite early on and it’s probably too late for this country.”

Nick added that length of survival in his shelter would be subjective and dependent on what was going on outside.

He said: “In the event of a nuclear attack with the risk of fall out thereafter… the standard guidance is normally a 14 day lock-down period, which we could easily sustain in our shelter.

“I think the important consideration is to not entirely focus on this end of the world style nuclear attack.

“It could well be conventional, chemical or just tactical nuclear weapons, which our structure is also built to withstand.

“The world has changed since the Ukraine war and there are potential flash points, and yes there is a risk, a much greater risk than there’s been in decades.”

Putin’s nuclear threats

BELOW is a timeline of some of the thinly veiled, and more cutthroat threats Vladimir Putin has made against the West with his nuclear arsenal since invading Ukraine two years ago.

FEBRUARY 24, 2022 – Vladimir Putin: “No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.”

MARCH 26, 2022 – Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: “We have a special document on nuclear deterrence. This document clearly indicates the grounds on which the Russian Federation is entitled to use nuclear weapons. … [This includes] when an act of aggression is committed against Russia and its allies.”

APRIL 20, 2022 – Vladimir Putin: “[The new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads] will force all who are trying to threaten our country in the heat of frenzied, aggressive rhetoric to think twice.”

FEBRUARY 18, 2024: Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: “Attempts to return Russia to the borders of 1991 will lead to only one thing. Towards a global war with Western countries using the entire strategic arsenal of our state.”

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 – Vladimir Putin: “They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory… All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?”

MARCH 13, 2024 – Vladimir Putin: “From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready. … Weapons exist in order to use them. We have our own principles.”

Doomsday bunkers soar

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It has been reported there are roughly more than 400 residential properties with their own nuclear shelters in the UK.

That’s in stark contrast to other western democracies like Switzerland, which has 360,000 operational communal nuclear shelters to safeguard its entire population.

Paul Weldon, managing director of The Panic Room Company, said an obvious gap in the market has opened up with more Brits wanting to ensure their safety.

Paul added: “We are getting two to three enquiries a month, they obviously all don’t come to fruition.

“There are some companies that are saying they are getting ten a day, which is just unrealistic and not true.

“But even to get two or three a month is a huge increase from what we were getting two years ago.

“Pre-pandemic, in more stable times, we were getting three to four a year maybe at most. So there is no denying there has been a noticeable increase and that people out there are quite worried.”

His outfit has been operating for 20 years – designing, specifying, manufacturing and installing safe rooms for both residential and commercial clients.

It is an expensive game and it gets more costly with blast protection and thicker concrete… then you’re into the millions

Paul

However, in the last seven years Paul has branched into nuclear shelters.

Paul continued: “The uptick in nuclear shelters has come about since the invasion of Ukraine – we have seen a spike in both enquiries and installations.

“And it has basically doubled again since the situation in Gaza.

“If we look back more than a decade, it was mostly just safe rooms where people were trying to secure their homes a little better from attempted burglaries and kidnap.

“But it has moved on now and we have found our clients have started to upgrade.

“We are getting a lot of dual purpose room requests, where clients are doing refurbishments or new builds of basements where they could also use it as a gym, storage, sauna or swimming pool with the added protection envelope around that area too.

“For example – if they are going to build a safe room they now want air filtration installed to protect against nuclear, chemical and biological attacks.”

While a lot of demand is coming from millionaires, the Panic Room Company is working on more affordable projects.

How to get a nuclear bunker

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According to Paul, an overground shelter for a family of four would cost between £100,000 to £300,000.

But for an underground shelter of the same size, customers are looking at about £500,000 minimum.

Paul said: “It is an expensive game and it gets more costly with blast protection and thicker concrete… then you’re into the millions.

“The full fit out includes a generator back up and solar panel back up to sustain life for about five weeks.

“They are also fitted with NBC filtration systems, which gets rid of all the nasties too.”

The Panic Room Company uses formulas that calculate blast radius and wind direction to determine the thickness of concrete and whether the bunkers need to be overground or underground.

‘Can’t afford to drag one’s feet’

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This week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to increase UK defence spending to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by 2030.

This in effect would deliver “an additional £75billion” for defence by the end of the decade.

However, in the 20-page dossier outlining where the money would go, only a few paragraphs were dedicated to civil defence with no mention of funding.

The Sun contacted the Cabinet Office as to whether they envisaged the reestablishment of emergency headquarters for either central or local government. And if Local Resilience Forums were being issued with any guidance for war emergency planning.

In response, a Government spokesperson said: “We remain well prepared for a range of threats and do regular exercises to test our resilience plans.

“We’re also increasing defence spending to hit 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, which will deliver the biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War.”

Eastern European countries, in comparison, who are closer to the war have taken more drastic and rapid action.

Finland recently completed an inventory of 50,500 bomb shelters that can fit 4.8million people.

The mayor of Warsaw, Poland, slated about £23million to build seven million square meters worth of shelters in the next three years.

While the Czech Republic is fitting out commercial properties, like shopping centres, with blast-grade infrastructure.

Paul said it was concerning the UK was dragging its feet when it came to civil defence projects.

Paul added: “Nobody wants the situation with how things are in the world, we’ve fell into doing these projects, which is great for business but it is really sad too that things have got to this.

“Personally, I don’t think there will be an all out nuclear war.

“But there is definitely the chance of a rogue state that could drop a tactical weapon to stop the Ukraine war, which is not ideal.

“I think it is very worrying that the UK isn’t taking measures to protect its citizens.”

WW3 preppers at the ready

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As global peace teeters on a knife’s edge, the UK’s ‘prepper’ movement has begun hoarding supplies for a doomsday event.

Leigh Price runs The Bug Out store in Wales, which caters to the survival and prepping community.

They provide survival gear, emergency prepping and camping equipment as well as long-term food rations and clothing.

Leigh said demand was at an all-time high due to consumers realising the UK’s proximity to the escalating global conflicts.

The veteran said: “We are seeing thousands of enquiries every week via our website plus I speak to people on the phone giving as much advice as possible.

“Not only are people looking to stock up on supplies but also on gaining skills on how to protect loved ones in an emergency.

“Our biggest sellers are always the most essential items like food, shelter and water.

“For food the biggest seller is the freeze dried supply as the tins have a 25 plus years shelf life.

“Water filters are also very popular – whether you are at home or on the move, having clean safe drinking water is essential.”

The Bug Out store has seen its sales increase steadily since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Leigh added: “With the global threats of cyber attacks, terrorists, all out war, it’s no good burying your head in the sand and hope it all goes away.

“If you want to protect yourself, your family and your way of life then be prepared.

“I think people are starting to wake up to the fact that if you need security at home whether its food or supplies its better to have it and not need it, to need it and not have it.”