Special meeting over fire control

The location of the new control centre will be revealed

The government has been asked to think again over plans to merge fire control rooms in the South West.

Each of the seven counties from Gloucestershire to the Isles of Scilly has its own control room but the government wants to reduce that to one.

New technology and improved efficiency will cut the average cost of responding to an incident by £24, it claims.

But fire chiefs and council leaders meeting in Exeter on Monday say the government plans do not add up.

Some say it will mean an increase in council tax bills and the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) also claims the plans could cut jobs and even put lives at risk.

'Genuine concerns'

But the government remains committed to its plan whatever the opposition.

A letter to the meeting refused a review of the policy and a similar reply is expected to the vote against its business plan.

Cornwall's Chief Fire Officer Mick Howell says there are real concerns about the plan.

He said: "We're not trying to make mischief or be awkward, there's a genuine concern regional control rooms may not provide as good a service as the government thinks they may.

"We're putting too much dependency on technology and if that technology fails, and the project fails, then lives could be put at risk."

The location of the new control centre will be revealed next month.