A run-down nuclear shelter, riddled with asbestos and obscene graffiti, could be restored as part of an effort to turn one of the island's largest public gardens into a tourist attraction.

Mosta council has applied for funding for the ambitious project.

The structure, dug into the side of Rihana valley was intended as an alternative command post for the British in case of a nuclear fallout during the Cold War.

The shelter was built deep into the rock to keep radiation at bay and was equipped with a filtration system to provide its occupants with clean air.

However, after the British left the island the shelter became a haven for vandals and has become dilapidated and dangerous.

Over the years, the walls have been extensively vandalised and it is thought that the bunker has been used by Satanists. The ceiling, which is made of asbestos, has been smashed, exposing the material's carcinogenic fibres.

Mosta mayor Paul Chetcuti Caruana said that, notwithstanding the heavy steel door at the entrance, vandals managed to break the lock and gain entry.

He said experts were recently on site to determine the best way to remove the asbestos, which would also involve extracting the air inside because of the potentially lethal particles it contained.

The mayor, who is familiar with the shelter, recalled rumours from his youth that nuclear weapons were stored nearby.

He remembered military trucks, carrying cargo covered in tar-paulin, driving by at night es-corted by heavily armed commandoes.

The council now intends rehabilitating the place and the garden above, which was once one of the largest on the island.

"We are also planning to build a cafeteria between the entrance to the shelter and the amphitheatre nearby and a lift down to the shelter to make it fully accessible," he said. "We are also thinking of building an animal sanctuary and a play area for children."

Another proposal by the council is a heritage trail along the fortifications, the Victoria Lines, to some catacombs nearby.

However, he said all this would need funding from the government and foreign sources, which the local council had already applied for.