Station X is saved for the nation

BLETCHLEY PARK, the intelligence centre where code breakers solved the riddle of Germany's Second World War Enigma cypher machine, is to be turned into a museum of communications technology.

The station, near Winslow, Buckinghamshire, was code-named Station X during the war. It is jointly owned by British Telecom and the Government's land agency PACE and had been earmarked for demolition. But after seven years of negotiation the Bletchley Park Trust has bought half the site and all the historic buildings on a 250-year lease. The trust now needs to raise pounds 1.5m to pay for the land and the museum.

Historians say the cracking of Enigma, a machine that automatically coded and decoded messages, was one of the main factors leading to the Allied victory. The museum will celebrate this achievement and chart developments in communications technology.

Christine Large, the chief executive of the Bletchley Park Trust, said she was delighted with the plans but warned that they would go ahead only if the necessary external funding was secured.