York would have been at the forefront of rebuilding Britain if the country was hit by a nuclear attack, it has been revealed.

Documents dating from the time of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis have just been declassified by the Ministry of Defence, revealing that in the event of an all-out nuclear attack on the UK, York would have been the centre of one of 12 regional governments running the country.

The new seats of power would have been deliberately situated away from major population areas like London and Manchester, and according to national newspaper reports, included York's Imphal Barracks and Blackpool's Imperial Hotel.

The plans were formulated in response to the Cuban missile crisis, and divide the country into 12 regions - similar to the ancient kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon Britain - that could have worked autonomously if they lost contact with central government.

Each would have been headed by a government minister, with a cabinet drawn from the military and the civil service.

Anne Crawford, spokeswoman for the Public Record Office, said: "The documents were released some time in the last month. They weren't released after 30 years because they were considered to be sensitive at the time by the Ministry of Defence."

Many civilian staff at military bases were never told that they had been secretly chosen to work for the post-war governments.

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