Fire union bosses have vowed to fight a proposal to amalgamate fire service control centres countrywide.

The amalgamation, which will cost a rumoured £30 million, would almost certainly result in the loss of the Essex Fire and Rescue control room at the service's Brentwood headquarters, the Fire Brigades Union fears.

It is the nerve centre from which crews across Essex are dispatched to incidents.

However, under the Home Office proposals, crews would instead be mobilised from a "control super-centre" which could be as far away as Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire.

Keith Handscombe, the union's secretary for East Anglia said firefighters are appalled at the proposal.

He said: "We will fight this every step of the way. It could mean that when someone dials 999 they find themselves held in a queue - much like they are at the moment when they call the police or ambulance service.

"As far as we are concerned lives could be put at risk."

The proposal follows a recently published Home Office report, The Future of Fire Service Control Rooms and Communications.

It recommends that the 49 control rooms in England and Wales be reduced to just nine by the year 2003.

If this is achieved, the Home Office document goes on to recommend that fire control rooms should then be merged with police and ambulance control rooms.

Andy Gilchrist, FBU general secretary, said: "These proposals are totally unacceptable.

"There is nothing in this report that will improve the fire service and nothing which will get a fire engine to a fire any faster."

Ruth Winters, control staff executive council member, said: "We will not accept these proposals which will result in a reduction in service to the public, a reduction in operational support to firefighters and a massive reduction in our members' jobs."

A spokesman for the Home Office said it was keen the fire service was run in the most efficient way.

He added: "The report does make a number of suggestions but they are just examples not a plan of action.

"We are interested in getting brigades to work in such a way that there is no duplication where there could be co-operation.

"We want to get all the views of the relevant parties and will be meeting to discuss this is July."

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