THIS is London’s secret nuclear bunker hidden in a council estate with a control centre in the basement which dates back to the Cold War.

Pear Tree House looks like just another humdrum block of flats in suburban South London.

However the unremarkable building hides a fascinating secret buried below. Pear Tree House in the Central Hill Estate is home to a Cold War era nuclear bunker.

Completed in the year England won the World Cup at Wembley, the bunker would have provided refuge for local officials in the event of a nuclear war.

Civil servants and other officials would have lived in the 18 room subterranean structure during the aftermath of a nuclear strike on London.

The officials would have raced into the structure and then sealed the blast door behind them.

They would have been tasked with attempting to provide important civil functions in the event of war.

London would have suffered mass casualties and the NHS would have been overwhelmed.

The bunker’s communications centre would have been a key hub, where officials attempted to stay in touch with the government and other public authorities.

The Scientific Advisors Room was another key area where officials would have monitored nuclear bust zones in the London area.

The bunker also featured a canteen with serving hatch, toilet facilities and a ventilation system.

In the 1980s the bunker was targeted by anti-nuclear protest groups such as CND.

The structure was used as an emergency centre by London Fire and Civil Defence Authority until the early 1990s.

Local historians retain a keen interest in the site which is a stark reminder of Cold War era Britain.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was seen at the time as the end of the Cold War era.

However the recent war in Ukraine has once again heightened tensions with Russia, and Putin has made frequent reference to his country’s nuclear arsenal.