PLANNING chiefs are studying a proposal to upgrade a Hampshire museum that used to be a nuclear bunker.

Members of the Historical Diving Society are seeking consent to improve access to No2 Battery, a Grade II-listed building that overlooks the Solent.

Built in 1860 it was part of the Stokes Bay Lines, which featured a moat between the sea and inland buildings including what is now the Alverbank Hotel.

A heritage statement that forms part of the application says: "Gosport Borough Council purchased the battery from the Home Office in 1932 for £1,500.

"In 1933 the parade ground was cleared of buildings and became a caravan park. In 1939 the council moved their records from the town hall to the battery for safe storage."

The building was used by the military during the Second World War but was handed back to the council in the early 1950s.

Forty years ago the authority converted the casemates and magazines into a nuclear bunker to be used by council chiefs and public health experts if war broke out. In 2011 it agreed to lease the site to the diving society.

Now members have applied for planning permission to improve access to the building as well as conserving the concrete gun emplacements.

The floor inside the museum is below ground level.

Plans include a platform lift that will make it easier for people to enter the building and view the exhibits. A proposed new ramp aims to overcome the height difference between the concourse and the museum's interior.

The application says: "The completion of these works will allow more of the building and the collection to be viewed by all visitors."

The building, which is due to reopen on April 2, has been voted one of the top six family-friendly museums in the UK. It is the only one in the country that is dedicated to diving.

A public notice outlining the proposed improvements has been published by the council, which will decide the application.

Other public notices:

Southampton City Council is closing Wimpson Lane northbound between its junctions with Millbrook roundabout and Green Park Road from January 23 (11pm-6am) to allow underground access to BT chambers. The works are due to be completed by January 25.

Southampton City Council is closing Glenfield Avenue between its junctions with Mousehole Lane and Rossington Avenue from February 1 (8am-4pm) for carriageway subsidence repairs. The works are due to be completed by February 4.

Southampton City Council is closing Portswood Avenue from Portswood Road to Shakespeare Avenue from January 25 (9.20am-3.30pm) to allow carriageway patch maintenance work. The works are due to be completed by January 27.

Youngs Transportation & Logistics Ltd, of Botany Way, Purfleet, is applying for permission to keep an extra 25 goods vehicles and 15 trailers at the operating centre at Site 11 & Site B, Eling Wharf, Totton.

Christopher Wayne Fouch, trading as Cutting Edge Arb Ltd, is applying for permission to keep an extra goods vehicle and trailer at the operating centre at Unit 8A & 8B Tower Lane, Eastleigh.

Devmod Ltd, of Queens Head, Pilcot, Dogmersfield, Hook, is applying for a licence to use Midhants Quarry, Calshot Road, Calshot, as an operating centre for two goods vehicle and two trailers.

Lukas Trans Ltd, of 51 Tower Road, Bournemouth, is applying for a licence to use Unit A5B, North Road, Marchwood, as an operating centre for three goods vehicles and three trailers.

Wayne Hollis, of Seaview Road, Cowes, is applying for permission to keep an extra goods vehicle at the operating centre at Freightliner, Milbrook Point Road, Southampton.

WSCL Ltd, of 119 Millbrook Road West, Southampton, is applying for a license to use Cartland Commercials, Panelrite House, First Avenue, Southampton, as an operating centre for two goods vehicles.