A Second World War air raid shelter is now protecting a Barnsley house from burglars instead of bombs.

The structure is at the Locke Avenue home of former master tripe dresser Jim Gosling, who worked on Barnsley market.

His granddaughter Ruth Hilton, 28, says it acts as a barricade to deter would-be intruders.

Ruth, of Neville Avenue, Kendray, said: "There have been quite a lot of burglaries round here but the shelter helps protect the house as it is a big grassy mound with bushes and steps leading down.

"My older sister Rebecca and me always wanted to excavate it. When we were young it seemed like a secret cave."

The shelter was there when Mr Gosling and his late wife moved in almost 50 years ago. Ruth said: "In those days every two or three houses had one."

Mr Gosling and his late wife would have celebrated their 50th anniversary on New Year's Day.

"My mum and nana used to laugh about the shelter. It has fond memories," added Ruth.

Another brick-built air raid shelter at a bungalow in Mount Vernon Road also holds memories for Dr David Hall, 78, who now lives in Leeds. He used to play in the shelter as a boy.

"We kept eggs cool down there as it had a pantry, and I hear now that some people grow mushrooms in shelters as the damp conditions are ideal," he said.

"In the war we could see shells being fired over Sheffield. To us, it was like a firework display - we were too young to understand what was going on."

Dr Hall's father was an engineer at Barnsley company Qualter Hall and worked on the 'Mulberry harbours' - portable 'harbours' used in the Allied invasion of Normandy.