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Bunker mentality - Dale Chalkley, 15, Chantle Doran, 15, Chalvedon School head of history Zak Iqbal, Leanne Smith, 14, and Ellis Campbell, 16, in the nuclear shelter

IT has to be a positive turn-up when the bunker designed to be the last refuge from nuclear annihilation is overrun, not by Soviet storm troopers, but a party of school pupils from Basildon.

The bunker lies in Kelvedon, a few miles north of Brentwood, and not so long ago this sentence would have ended with "Ahhhhh!" and an obituary for any writer divulging its whereabouts.

Now it's different. The hole in the Essex countryside, designed to house the Prime Minister and the 10 Downing Street cat in the event of nuclear Armageddon, has become a tourist site.

Russians don't need to bring a nuclear warhead to bust their way in, just the price of a ticket.

In case anyone might be looking too much on the bright side, however, the nuclear bunker became the setting for another sort of disaster scenario, codenamed Operation Raindrop.

The exercise pitted pupils aged 13 to 18 from two Basildon schools, Barstable and Chalvedon, against a 21st-century style threat, a massive flood caused by global warming.

The school teams had, in the words of the briefing, "to respond to a changing scenario continually affected by factors outside their control".

They were placed alongside professionals from a range of emergency services, including fire and rescue, the police, marine police, Red Cross, and the ambulance service, Norman Humphreys, a former Essex schoolmaster who now sets up exercises like this for a living, explained: "It's part of a new approach to learning. You learn by doing.

Safe haven - bunks in the maze of tunnels, built to protect Government officials in the event of a nuclear war

"The pupils are taken out of a classroom context and set to work in a real life situation."

The nuclear bunker, with its blonde secretary dummies sitting at antique Commodore computers, and its atmosphere of controlled crisis, is indeed about as far removed from anything in a school that could be imagined, except perhaps by a sci-fi creative writing class.

"This is the first time we've used the nuclear bunker," Mr Humphreys said.

"It certainly provides something a bit different.

"We wanted somewhere with a bit of atmosphere, and we got it." The day started at 9.30am with a tour of the bunker, then Operation Raindrop kicked off at 11.10am with a severe flood warning.

The setting had another advantage: There were no distractions. Outside the sun was shining and the woods were full of bluebells.

In the underground hellhole, though, all was grim concentration. This was school as it used to be in the good old days that grandparents talk about.

"The pupils have become engaged very quickly," remarked Mr Humphreys, indicating a huddle of worried looking roleplayers. No wonder. To keep them on their toes, the script kept tossing unpredictable turns of events at them.

For instance, a building in the path of the flood turned out to be an old folks' home. It could take hours to evacuate. What to do?

Adding to the sense of atmosphere was the presence of Barry Rowswell, Basildon's principal emergency planning officer.

Mr Rowswell, 49, was appointed last year after 27 years in the fire service.

His job is to assess every permutation of possible civil disaster, plan for them all, and train volunteers who will be ready to respond. "It's a huge agenda on a small pedestal," said Basildon's very own one man disaster zone. It was Mr Rowswell who had written the script.

"We looked for a historical perspective," he said. "Nuclear war isn't an immediate concern, for now, but climate change and flooding are very topical. I put together what seemed a realistic scenario, then bounced it off the other agencies to get their input."

All the emergency agencies had been pleased to participate, Mr Rowswell said. "It raises the awareness of children, and some of them may identify possible career paths in the police or other services." Yet for the pupils, the world of devastation was not entirely alien. They had all chosen to study for the BTec in public services.

Zakiya Iqbal, head of public services (and also head of history) at Chalvedon, explained: "The course covers things like law, community, working with the media, teamwork, citizenship and leadership.

"Operation Raindrop puts them in a situation where they have to take up that leadership role. They have to cope with the unexpected, and they have to adapt to events at speed. They have to think on their feet."

She added: "They are responding very well to these demands. It's noticeable how the pace has picked up."

By lunchtime, the adults were even more deeply impressed. "Some of them were so caught up in the exercise that they didn't want to break for lunch," said Mr Humphreys.

However, Dale Ellis, 18, a team leader from Chalvedon, did break off long enough to give his impression of the day."

"In a real life situation, part of the job would be to brief the media," he pointed out, not unreasonably.

For Dale and his team, Operation Raindrop offered a whole range of advantages. "It helps us work as a team, to understand the huge pressures of a situation like this," he said.

Other members of the team threw in their own take on the exercise: "It helps you understand the power of a flood", "it speeds up your decision making," "you realise what it's like out there for the emergency services".

One even said: "You get to understand the cost of something like this - someone has to pay."

When Armageddon finally does arrive for real, there will be some comfort, at least here in Essex. The younger generation are on to the job. Just give them a bunker and they can handle the rest.

7:50pm Friday 16th May 2008

Unassuming exterior - the site's location was kept secret in the Cold War

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