Recently opened World War II files show the British government used a Scottish estate to hide spy recruits who did not make the grade.

A book, British Intelligence, said the Inverlair estate was taken over by the Special Operations Executive during the war, The Scotsman reports. Its official name was the Number 6 Special Workshop School, but agents nicknamed it the cooler."

The estate reportedly inspired The Prisoner, a 1960s television show starring Patrick McGoohan as an agent spirited to a mysterious island when he attempts to resign.

The authors of the book, three historians who have combed the files, said those sent to Inverlair were well fed and housed and could leave the estate during the day if they wished. They were mostly foreign nationals, recruited as spies, deemed after training to be physically or emotionally unsuitable, but knowing too much to be allowed to leave the service.

One man was sent there for being ugly -- he was missing most of his teeth and the remaining ones resembled tusks. His trainers decided that anyone who saw him would never forget him, making him useless for espionage.

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