It is hardly your typical country retreat but a nuclear bunker built in the Cotswold hills still commands an asking price of �400,000.

Noisy neighbours are unlikely to be a problem since the bunker has 2ft thick concrete walls and is built on five and a half acres of green belt land in Coberley, near Cheltenham.

Other points of interest include a radio tower and associated buildings above ground, such as a three-bedroom bungalow and a disused sewage plant.

The two-floor bunker, which was put on the market on Wednesday, was built in the 1950s on a site used during the First and Second World Wars as a US military hospital.

The site occupies an elevated position on the Cotswold escarpment, offering commanding rural views

Gloucestershire County Council spokesman

It was intended to provide a protected centre for local government at the height of the Cold War and was bought by Gloucestershire County Council in 1963.

Gloucestershire fire fighters have occasionally used it for training exercises, but it is now being sold off because it is "surplus to requirements".

The council hopes its unique features will pique interest among property buyers.

A spokesman said: "The bunker offers an interesting opportunity for conversion to amongst other things a secure information store, music recording studio and other uses, subject to planning permission being obtained.

"The site occupies an elevated position on the Cotswold escarpment, offering commanding rural views."

Offers for the bunker must be registered with the council by 1400 BST on 29 August.