READING the article about wartime shelters (The Argus, April 30) I was particularly interested in the mention of the wine cellars of the Royal Pavilion 1940 as I have never seen them mentioned before.

We were living at the time at 52 Mighell Street, now no longer there.

Whenever the air raid sirens sounded, my mother, younger sister and I would gather up our blankets and pillows and head for the Royal Pavilion wine cellars for safety during the raid to get some sleep, if possible, on those very hard wooden bunks.

We used to lie and watch the rats scurrying across the entrance.

My father at that time was a special constable in the Brighton Police and, on the night of the North Street bomb, was on duty at the corner of Hanningtons. The blast took him off his feet and blew him into a shop doorway in East Street.

Luckily he suffered no injury. Knowing we were in the wine cellars, he came to see if we were all safe and arrived with dust and debris covering his uniform, hair and eyebrows.

He was naturally shaken by the experience.

I wonder if there are any other people who shared those cellars with a tale to tell.

Mrs J Heath Beatty Avenue, Coldean