LOOKING out over a grey and sleepy Portland, it’s hard to believe that 50 years ago this week it was a hotbed of scandal, intrigue and Cold War spies.

Five people at the heart of a Russian spy ring were arrested in London, and the eyes of the nation turned to Dorset when it was revealed that two of them were Henry Houghton and girlfriend Ethel Gee, staff at the Admiralty’s Underwater Weapons Establishment in Portland.

The pair had been stealing classified information about Britain’s warships and submarines and passing it onto the Kremlin’s Soviet network director in Britain, Trofimovitch Melody, posing as US businessman Gordon Lonsdale.

Sitting beside the fire at a quiet pub in Langton Herring, near Weymouth, they would meet KGB contacts and make phone calls and travelled each week to London Waterloo train station to hand over parcels to Lonsdale.

He would pay them thousands of pounds for their information, claiming it was for US intelligence, before getting married couple the Krogers to transmit it to Moscow.

Last month, Leonard Burt, the Weymouth-born young detective who uncovered Houghton and Gee’s secret Soviet links, died at the age of 78. It was Mr Burt’s lengthy report to MI5 that led to officers calling at addresses in Ruislip 50 years ago yesterday.

Acting on tip-offs that Houghton was a boastful and greedy middle-aged drunk, Mr Burt searched his and Gee’s homes, where he found secret messages and research documents. Codes, transmitting devices and other devices more commonly found in James Bond films were also there.

His evidence at their trials at the Old Bailey proved crucial and, after they were dealt long-term prison sentences, he received a special commendation for his work.

Following last year’s shocking revelations about Anna Chapman, one of 10 Russian agents deported from the US for spying, and allegations that a Liberal Democrat MP’s Russian aide was a sleeper for the Russian secret service, espionage is topical once more.

Next month, Wimborne Drama will present Pack of Lies, a Hugh Whitemore play based on the Portland Spy Ring, at the town’s Tivoli Theatre.

Richard Neal, who plays the mysterious MI5 officer Mr Stewart, said: “Our director saw the play in Poole a couple of years ago and loved its big local connection.

“Russian spies are very much in the news again. Although we’re not a big superpower they still seem very interested in our secrets and even though it was 50 years ago we still have the same issues really.

“Do you owe more loyalty to your friends and neighbours or to the country? That’s the dilemma at the heart of the play.”

Pack of Lies is at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne from Thursday, February 10 to Saturday, February 12.

Tickets are £10 for 7.30pm performances, £8 for Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. Call 01202 885566.