Warning over merged fire control

The Fire Brigades Union has renewed calls for the authorities to think again over scrapping the county-based control rooms in the East Midlands.

The union said the cost of moving to a single control centre at Castle Donington would divert funds from front line training and equipment.

It also said problems with other government IT schemes could cost lives if repeated on this project.

But managers have said a single centre would make better use of resources.

We don't think we should be playing almost Russian roulette with the turnout system of an emergency service Tom Neal, Fire Brigades Union

The move is part of a national plan to close 46 emergency fire control rooms and replace them with 8 regional centres.

But Leicester Fire Brigades Union spokesman Tom Neal, said they while they were not against changes which improved the service, losing control rooms was dangerous.

"I know that if we leave brigade control rooms as they are now, lives will not be put at risk.

"But as we go into this we may find ourselves in the situation that London ambulance were in a few years ago when they amalgamated into a central control room and they could not turn out ambulances."

He added: "If it works - all well and good - but we are not convinced it will and we don't think we should be playing almost Russian roulette with the turnout system of an emergency service."

The new multi-million pound centre is due to start training next year, going operationally live in May 2010.

It will replace five separate call centres in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.