THE residents of a Scottish town would have been left to die horribly had the Cold War gone hot, government papers reveal.

The files single out Kirkcaldy, Fife, as the one place in the UK which would not have been able to provide sufficient protection from a Soviet onslaught.

Ironically, the community of 50,000, is just 30 miles from one of the country's network of underground nuclear bunkers.

However, a Home Office report from 1961, that was kept secret for decades, makes a remarkable reference to the town.

The papers assess British communities for their ability to withstand nuclear attack, based on the Protection Factor (PF).

Buildings had to be assessed with a PF of 150 or higher to provide acceptable protection.

A single paragraph identifies the Fife community as the only place in the land whose citizens could not be given proper protection.

It states: "It will be seen that in all the county boroughs, boroughs (except Kirkcaldy) and urban districts there would be little difficulty in accommodating the people whose dwellings had a minimal PF of ten or less in communal refuges with a PF of 150 or more."

The report makes no further reference to what steps - if any - would have been taken to care for residents, who at the time it was written included then 10-year-olds Gordon Brown and Jack Vettriano.

Their home town was a potential target because it lies just 11 miles away from the Royal Naval dockyard at Rosyth.

Just 10 years before the report, the government constructed a giant underground bunker around 30 miles away near St Andrews.

The bunker - now a tourist attraction - is 150ft below ground and would have saved the lives of 300 top officials, MoD personnel and ministers while the residents of Kirkcaldy perished.

The document spells out that the death rate would have been high even among civilians who made it to proper shelters.

"Instead of nearly one and a half million of the bungalow and prefab dwellers receiving a sickness or lethal dose (of radiation), only some 51,000 would be sick or die if they were moved to communal refuges.

"The savings would not be as spectacular as suggested since many of the people who were saved from becoming fall-out casualties would be killed, in any case, by blast. It seems probable that at least half the casualties saved from fall-out would also survive the effects of blast.

"Moving two and a half million people from bungalows and prefabs into refuges should reduce casualties by over half a million."

Labour councillor David Ross, the leader of Fife Council said: "I can't shed any light on why Kirkcaldy might have been left out of these plans.

"The area was renowned for its coal mines and perhaps they expected people to take shelter in them."