London tube station used as command centre during Blitz sold for homes

LONDON (Reuters) - A London underground train station used as a command centre during World War Two has been sold by the government for 53 million pounds to be turned into homes, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Friday. Brompton Road underground station, which was opened in 1906 and sits about 0.3 miles (0.5 kms) from luxury department store Harrods in central London, was shut in 1934 and later taken over by the War Office as an anti-aircraft operations room. The MoD did not identify the buyer but said it expects the 28,000 square foot property - which contains garages, offices and a drill hall - to be used for a predominantly residential development. Proceeds from the sale, managed by property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle , will be ploughed back into the defence budget as the department embarks on a round of cost-cutting, it said. The deal comes as prices for residential sites in central London have surged on the back of demand from wealthy foreign investors looking to buy homes in the capital. "The Ministry of Defence is committed to selling off its surplus land and property in order to provide the best possible value for money to the taxpayer," Defence Minister Andrew Murrison said in a statement. (Reporting by Brenda Goh)