A former top secret military base dubbed Britain’s Area 51 has become a magnet for UFO enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists after lying abandoned for more than 20 years.

It led to ufologists speculating that spacecraft wreckage was taken there to be examined along with alien corpses.

Rudloe Manor near Corsham, Wiltshire which for years the RAF’s secret service worked at across espionage and counterintelligence operations, but also… UFO investigations

Keep out: Razor wires and high fences keep our intruders at the top secret site in Wiltshire

The rusted former main entrance gates are emblazoned with signs warning: ‘Private. Keep out.’

Just yards away is a concrete pillbox where armed guards would have been stationed when the base was operational.

Outside, the former road leading to the base has been abandoned and is overgrown with weeds. But 20 mph signs remain in place along with markings on the road which show ‘non pass holders’ were directed down a separate lane as they approached the camp.

A caretaker at the base told MailOnline: ‘You go on YouTube, there are guys who dedicate their lives to it. They break in all the time – we had it this week.

Amateur investigators are convinced the base has remained off limits since it was decommissioned in 2000 as it holds the secrets to extraterrestrial life

Former workers say RAF Rudloe Manor’s main purpose was as an administrative establishment providing accommodation and support for a number of defence organisations

A gate lined with barbed wire at the property’s edge with a sign saying: ‘Private. Keep out

‘There was one bunker that the Royal Family were supposed to go to that had been done out for them,’ said local resident Patricia Kelly

‘They come from all over the country and a lot from America.

‘The first sign you see is when you find the fence down.

‘The lengths they go to to get in at times is astounding. They will go through thick brambles and trample them down for ages and you think “What the b***** hell they are doing?”

At the height of the Cold War in the late 1950’s, a secret underground city was built 100 feet beneath the ground linking bases across the area.

At the height of the Cold War in the late 1950’s, a secret underground city was built 100 feet beneath the ground linking bases across the area.

Giant abandoned oil tanks capable of holding 6,000 gallons can be found on the abandoned site

The fuel level indicator for a rusted oil tank which has been empty for a long time

The sign at the entrance to Rudloe Manor near Corsham, Wiltshire

‘There was one bunker that the Royal Family were supposed to go to that had been done out for them.’

There are also giant abandoned oil tanks capable of holding 6,000 gallons along with rusted pipes raised above ground level and apparently now leading nowhere

.

KEEP OUT: Would-be intruders are warned about entering the abandoned site, believed by conspiracy theorists to where government scientists examined alien corpses

A boarded up window of a hut which has sign attached with ‘Private. Keep out’ written on it

An aerial view of the Rudloe Manor site near Corsham, Wiltshire where the RAF had a secret military base

Retired accountancy worker Vanessa Vingoe, 60, said: ‘There’s lots of underground tunnels where top secret stuff has gone on but we will probably never know what some of it is.’

The mother-of-four added: ‘I had no idea I was living in Area 51. I hadn’t heard about UFO’s at all. There’s a lot of conspiracies going round at the moment – aliens are the least of my worries.’

Father-of-three John Price, 56, said: ‘When I was at school I hated history but when I learned about the local history it was fascinating – with all the tunnels and nuclear bunkers.

‘There’s always been a lot of military bases in the area.’

Mr Price, who works for a medical supplies company, added: ‘When I left school I was on work experience and went to one of the bases and went down into the ground.

‘That’s when I first learned that some of these places join up through tunnels. There’s miles and miles of them.

‘It used to be secret but now they arrange visits to go down there. It’s all in books that have got maps and everything in them.

‘It was hidden. It was all secret for a long long time but it’s come into the public domain in recent years.’

Wiltshire Council declined to comment on the planning status of the land.