MI6 left red-faced as top secret spy academy location disclosed and shut down

2023-01-23

MI6 bosses have closed a spy base after details of its location were accidentally revealed.

The central London training centre had been open at the original venue for many years and was used to teach incoming agents spycraft and self-defence.

But after the local council accidentally published the facility's location, floor plans and planning documents, the secret agency has had to move the centre, the Mirror reported.

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The leaked documents revealed expensive plans to revamp the building, including adding more CCTV cameras, satellite dishes and high-tech security gates.

The building has now been left empty and Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officers have moved their training to another site, the location of which has not been disclosed.

But despite the breach, it is understood the foreign intelligence service decided to move from the building – thought to have been in Westminster – for strategic purposes, not security reasons.

Residents living near the high-security training centre had previously complained that "electromagnetic interference" from the building affected their TVs and radios, the Mail on Sunday reported.

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Documents also revealed that the SIS found itself in hot water with Westminster planning chiefs after satellite dishes were installed on the building without permission, under the assumption that "government departments are immune" to planning permission laws.

Detailed upgrade plans for the spy training centre in the central London borough have been accessible to the public online since 2004, when the base was used by SIS officers on a regular basis. The centre was sometimes referred to as "government offices".

MI6, overseen by the Intelligence and Security Committee along with MI5, is the UK's foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, headquartered in Vauxhall, London.

Formed in 1909, the organisation is mainly responsible for carrying out covert overseas operations that support the UK's national security and protect British citizens from overseas threats.

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