Secret wartime radio site is sold in mystery deal

The Criggion radio station, between Oswestry and Welshpool, was left to rot for more than a decade after it was taken out of use.

It was closed and vacated by BT, which operated the site on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, in 2001 and it has stood empty since.

Now owners Telereal Trillium has sold the site, which includes four buildings and 11.68 acres of agricultural land, to four mystery local investors, who have not yet revealed what they plan to do with the site. Mark Kelly, director of disposals and development at Telereal Trillium, said: "The community showed a strong interest in the site and we are very pleased that the sale has been completed by four local investors.

"We are confident that the regeneration of the lots will bring life back to the area and will directly benefit the immediate community."

Built in 1942, the site was used as a naval communications centre and transmitter site during the Second World War and the Cold War.

The site was available for purchase as a whole or as lots.

When the site was put on the market, Tim Main, head of sales at Balfours, which acted as sales agents, said: "It will be interesting to see how much the site sells for. It is for sale as a whole or in two lots, lot one extending 125 acres, with an asking price of £750,000 and lot two 98 acres, asking price £600,000."

A variety of uses has been suggested including a design studio, industrial storage, conversion to residential, a museum, and a day care centre.

The station, which sits underneath the Breiddens, has been branded an eyesore over the years.

Powys county councillor Graham Brown said in 2013 that years of vandalism had taken its toll on the derelict buildings and trespassers were risking their lives because of broken glass and other debris. He started a campaign to revamp the decaying centre.

The station was once the heartbeat of Britain's naval communications and played a vital role in many key military decisions.

The centre was built during the Second World War amid fears the Germans could bomb the main communications post at Rugby, Warwickshire.

During the war, the station and its three 700ft radio masts and three 600ft towers were used to keep the admiralty in contact with Royal Navy ships around the world.

The station was used in ordering the sinking of German battleship Scharnhorst in 1943, seen as a huge psychological blow for the German high command.

But it was after the Second World War that the station was at its busiest. It became the top-secret hub of Cold War communications and hundreds of people worked at the site during the 1960s, who sent messages across the Atlantic during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The masts were demolished when the site closed.