NO MAN'S LAND
INCREDIBLE photos show the abandoned past and crumbling present of a ghost village last occupied 76 years ago.
The eerie settlement of Imber near Salisbury was abandoned in the midst of the Second World War - and its untouched ruins continue to attract hordes of tourists keen to witness a bygone era.
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Shortly before Christmas in 1943 villagers were ordered to pack up and leave to provide a training area for troops preparing for the invasion of Europe.
Imber residents were never allowed to return to the Domesday settlement - and the village all but disappeared, absorbed into the Ministry of Defence's Salisbury Plain training zone.
Since then, the abandoned settlement has won some nostalgic appeal - with the MoD now opening up to the public for 50 days a year.
On Saturday, vintage Routemasters were seen bussing people to the forgotten hamlet, the .
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'OBSCURE'
Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy, who is a member of operator Imberbus, said the village was the "most obscure place" you could possibly run a bus service.
"It's not open most of the time, nobody lives there, so it's the absolutely perfect place to run a quarter-of-an-hour bus service one day a year," he said.
Tourists can be seen dipping their noses into abandoned homes and enjoying an old-fashioned lemonade from a vintage bus as they sample a different era.
St Giles Church is perhaps the main attraction - and the only building left intact in the village.
For the first time in 20 years it will be used for a Christening.
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Last year £13,000 was raised towards its upkeep through the curious sight-seers.
Church custodian Neil Skelton said of this year's haul: "It was the most we've ever had, we were almost at breaking point."
The Christening - for an Army officer serving in the plain - is set to be basic affair.
Mr Skelton commented: "There aren't any pews in the church and the font was taken out in 1950, so the rector will be bringing a bowl with him and some water."
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