EVER fancied an undercover job at a top secret Government location?

Well, now's your chance to work at a nuclear bunker, once intended to protect officials helping with the daunting task of governing York and the surrounding area after the bomb was dropped.

The 45-year-old shelter is being opened to the public for the first time - and it needs guides to look after its visitors.

English Heritage has spent £250,000 transforming the former Cold War bunker into a tourist attraction, and wants the right people to run it.

The once-secret nuclear shelter, which can be found behind Shelley House, in Acomb Road, would have been the nerve centre for the area in case of an atomic attack.

A team of up to 60 Royal Observer Corps members, including meteorologists and scientists, would have been based in the bunker.

It was intended that they would receive information from observers in smaller shelters around the area, about where bombs had been dropped and if fallout was likely to occur, which they would pass on to more senior officials.

Now, after two years of restoration work, the semi-sunken bunker is about to open to the public eager to learn about a slice of 20th century history.

Jeremy Reed, visitor operations director for English Heritage, said: "The bunker will provide prospective employees with an opportunity to work in a unique historical setting, very different to most other working environments.

"We are looking for individuals who will make the visit to the bunker an enjoyable and memorable experience."

Bunker guides will earn up to £13,000 per year, but hours of working are only guaranteed from April to September.

The York bunker was built to house 60 people for two weeks in airtight and bombproof conditions, and was put on top alert in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis.

But it was eventually abandoned in 1992 after the signing of a non-aggression treaty with the Warsaw Pact countries. Former Culture Secretary Chris Smith granted it Scheduled Ancient Monument status in 2000 after a study of Cold War sites across the country.

The closing date for applications for the guide job is this Friday.

Updated: 10:42 Wednesday, January 25, 2006