Entire town sold at auction - 08/02/2010

An entire town has been sold at auction, it has been revealed.

Skrunda-1, a town in Latvia, was auctioned to a Russian company for ten times its pre-sale estimate, going for £1.9 million.

The habitation was once occupied by Russian troops and used as an anti-missile radar base. It was abandoned in 1994 following the collapse of the USSR.

Included in the lot is 110 acres of land, 10 apartment blocks, two nightclubs, a shopping centre, a school, barracks and a hospital.

While it is not known what the buyer Aleksejevskoje-Serviss will use the facility for, Latvia's privatisation agency has insisted the sale will bring prosperity back to the area.

It said: "It is positive that property which has been empty for a long time and where there has been no economic activity has been sold."

The town is close to the country's capital city Riga.

The monies raised will come as a relief to the Latvian government, which is struggling to cope with the recession.