HITLER couldn't do it . . . but work has now started to blitz part of Eastleigh's network of old air raid shelters beneath the town's Leigh Road recreation ground.

Just over 15 years ago, the shelters hit the headlines when seven teenagers lifted a manhole cover and climbed into the subterranean tunnels only to become trapped when a prankster sealed their exit.

Only an anonymous call to the police saved the four boys and three girls from being buried alive.

Now, work on significant plans to revitalise the park with a £700,000 project has signalled the end for part of the old air raid shelters, which helped keep town residents safe during the Second World War.

Built more than 60 years ago, the eastern section of the series of 6ft-by-4ft tunnels is being filled in owing to worries about their gradual deterioration.

Structural engineers who inspected the shelters advised that heavy vehicles should not be driven over the tunnels - a situation which has meant the introduction of restrictions, particularly for heavy fairground equipment.

Civic chiefs are also unwilling to splash out on improvements, only to have to dig the ground up later to remove failing concrete.

But a section of the tunnels, between the war memorial and The Point, will be left untouched at present following interest expressed by English Heritage, which said that the shelters might be rare examples, nationally, of civil defence structures from the Second World War.

Work to fill in the eastern section is expected to be complete within three weeks. A council spokesman said: "To minimise disruption and damage, the contractors are carrying out the work in sections.

"As turf is removed above the shelters they will break through the concrete roof, fill in a section with hardcore and replace the turf before moving on to the next section."