'I have a secret nuclear bunker - if Putin strikes, I'm going underground'
A UK farmer says he and his family are prepared to live underground in a secret nuclear bunker "for as long as it takes" if Putin strikes.
Mike Parrish, from Kelvedon Hatch in Essex, claims his family will be able to survive in the former Government bunker for up to 30 years if the Russian president and the UK become embroiled in a nuclear conflict.
The 76-year-old fifth generation farmer has stacks of "tinned food", "water" and even his very own sewage system in the bunker, which was once designated to be occupied by the Prime Minister and senior state officials, who would run the country from underground, if Britain had suffered a nuclear attack.
He says he bought the shelter from the Government way back in 1994 when it was decommissioned.
The farmer bought the decommissioned Government bunker in 1994 (Mike Parrish)Detailing the deal, Mike told the Express: “Under the threat of compulsory purchase [the Government] took this 25 acres in the middle of the farm, bulldozed the hill away, built the bunker, put it back, and then we farmed over it so the Russians wouldn't know it was here.”
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Mike says there's not enough room for everyone, however, and says deciding who gets to secure a spot is like putting together a "wedding list".
He explained: “When it comes down to it's a wedding list, because you'd obviously have your parents… and you have your daughter.
“Well, do you have your daughter's boyfriend? Well that would depend, it's just like a wedding. Yeah, you probably would if they've been going out for a while.”
He continued: “But would you have the daughter's boyfriend’s parents? Probably no. And so it's sort of a wedding list.
“And then you get down to the bottom. And that's when you want the chap who can change a light bulb. So that life can go on afterwards.”
However, Mike’s wife told him she won’t be moving down there if the worst happens. He said: “My wife, for example, wouldn't come down here. There’s nothing worse than being down here for six months, with not knowing much.
“And so she's in the camp that would like to go and stay outside and see what's what.”
However, Mike isn’t convinced his wife’s stance is a wise one, but there are plenty of others who have tried to secure a spot in the bunker for a hefty fee.
“On 9/11, I had over 200 people… part of the deal was that in those days, we said for £30,000, we will guarantee your space, down in the bunker here for 10 years," he said.
With the Russia-Ukraine war still raging on, Mike says this has once again sparked interest: “So now we have the Ukraine… and we had 15 people this time. But of course, I've learned that I say ‘well, if you've got 500,000 in liquid assets, we will talk to you’.
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“You are going to be down here for 10-15 years, you're going to want lots of food.
“People are superficial, you know, they still think you go down underground, come up [the] next morning and carry on working - you won’t. If there is that sort of thing [a nuclear strike], and you're going to be underground, and you're going to be down there for as long as it takes.”
The bunker, although operational, is the central feature of Mike’s activity centre business on the site. He said: “The bunker itself is a museum… tourists obviously come and go round.
"The tour takes about an hour and a half, for which they pay us a fee. We also have the zip wires and the high ropes on top because when people come out for the day, they want something to do.
“The hour and a half it takes to go around the bunker, it needs something else. So we have a children's high ropes adventure course.
"We also have on the farm, the best mud run in the country… we have a wild forest, as we call it, where Scout groups can spend a day running through mud, doing other zip wires and other impossible objects to climb over.
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