MORE than 1,000 people fearing an impending apocalypse are signed up to a waiting list for an extraordinary subterranean doomsday village, Sun Online can reveal.

Trident Lakes is a $320million (£258million) development in the small city of Ector, Texas, where wealthy investors are busy creating luxury bolt holes to flee to during the outbreak of World War 3 or deadly plague.

16 The masterplan for the underground doomsday village Credit: Trident Lakes

Each luxury bunker will connect via a series of tunnels to an underground community centre and there will be a communal greenhouse and dry food storage.

Eventually it will provide its own electricity and clean supplies of water and air.

Some 2,000 people are expected to live here with more land bought for expansion.

But because of the unpredictable nature of catastrophes, Trident Lakes is as much a luxurious five-star resort as it is the location of 532 nuclear-proof bunkers.

Residents can relax in uncertain times by enjoying an 18-hole golf course, spa, gun range, equestrian centre, restaurants, shopping or watersports in three lagoons with beaches.

Speaking to SunOnline, Richie Whitt, spokesman for Trident Lakes, said: “It provides them a fun place for the family.

“But it also provides immediate and certain safety and security if a threat should arise.

“In these uncertain times, we think it's prudent for everyone to have a Plan B.

“Trident Lakes isn't just a hole in the ground to hide in, it will be a sustainable, interactive community that can not only survive - but thrive - after an apocalyptic event.”

16 A 3D model of one of more than 500 bunkers on the luxury resort Credit: Trident Lakes

16 Each of the bunkers will be able to protect a family from a nuclear blast and provide shelter during the fallout period Credit: Trident Lakes

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Mr Whitt said all residents are being pre-screened to include a variety of skill sets such as doctors, firemen, military, chefs and teachers.

He said: “If a catastrophic event occurs, the residents will have planned for and be in as good of a position as possible to deal with the aftermath.”

But this no longer a pipe dream for a nightmarish scenario, work has begun on the doomsday village.

Engineering on the bunkers, which are known as condos, is complete and diggers are today on the 700-acre plot clearing the land for their installation.

And now, rising 50ft above the development is one of the world’s biggest fountains in the middle of which is a centrepiece statue of Poseidon - the fabled god of earthquakes.

16 The water fountain has just been finished with the ominous statue of Poseidon Credit: Trident Lakes

16 Diggers are now onsite clearing land for the huge development Credit: Trident Lakes

Mr Whitt explained such a perilous state of foreign affairs and the need among rich investors in Dallas and celebs to secure protection to survive was the inspiration for Trident Lakes.

He said: “In late 2015 when like-minded, affluent people began chatting about the growing global and local dangers in the world.

“They wanted a safe place to escape in case worse came to worse, but they also desired an upscale, resort-type neighbourhood to enjoy in the good, safe times.

“In their quest for such a Utopian place, they quickly realised that it didn't exist. Alas, they bought the land and began to build Trident Lakes.”

The first residents were expected to move in by 2018.

16 The Rising S Company's Gary Lynch says business is growing with the rich snapping up bunkers like those being installed in Trident Lakes Credit: AP:Associated Press

16 This photo shows a bomb shelter under construction at Rising S Company ...it will be fitted out with furnishings later Credit: AP:Associated Press

Sales of the mini-fortresses similar to those being earmarked for Trident Lakes have spiked in the last few months.

The Rising S Company in Texas manufactures bombshelters that start at £31,000 for a hotel room-sized haven to a luxury option that costs £6.6million and boasts a gun range and bowling alley.

Another nuclear bunker manufacturer is the Survival Condo Project.

Its development is presently underway in Kansas.

This is a 15-storey nuclear warhead silo turned into luxury doomsday properties.

A project is underway which has created 12 apartments deep in the crust of the Earth.

16 Another site in more advanced development in Kansas being constructed by Survival Condo Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/LARRY HALL

16 Like Trident Lakes, the Survival Condo development (pictured) is for the elite, with this condo hosting 12 apartments Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/LARRY HALL

16 One of the apartment's bedrooms where you can snuggle up while others struggle for survival above Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/ LARRY HALL

16 The whole survival condo structure is designed to sustain 70 people for five years Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/LARRY HALL

16 Inside the condo the resident can even enjoy a spot of climbing and a fully-fitted games room Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/LARRY HALL

16 Residents can relax and unwind in the pool and spa while a nuclear winter unfolds outside Credit: SURVIVAL CONDO/LARRY HALL

While the prospect of a world catastrophe may seem unthinkable, some of the world’s top scientists have recently warned that mankind is skating on thin ice.

For on January 26, the Doomsday Clock symbolising the threat of apocalypse moved closer to midnight.

The new “time”, two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, is the closest the planet has been to an apocalypse since 1953.

The dire state of international relations between nuclear powers in the world - including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea - was a chief reason why the Doomsday Clock hands moved closer to the dreaded hour.

16 The Doomsday Clock guages how close humanity is thought to be to total annihilation Credit: Getty Images

It was designed in 1947 during the rush to create a devastating nuclear weapon.

Experts working on the Manhattan Project, America’s atomic bomb, wanted a way to demonstrate how close we were to widespread global doom.

The clock was changed from 11:55pm to 11:57pm in 2015.

This new time is the closest to midnight since 1953, when the US government added the hugely powerful Hydrogen bomb to its arsenal.

SunOnline has spoken to a range of military and terror experts who have claimed the threat of World War Three is greater than it’s been since the Cold War.