'Lives at risk' claim in fire control switch Anger over consultation process on Government merger plan.

(From Yorkshire Post)

William Green Political Correspondent LIVES could be put at risk because of Government plans to replace Yorkshire's fire control rooms with a regional centre, the firefighters' union has claimed.

Separate control rooms cover Humberside and North, South and West Yorkshire but John Prescott's Whitehall department has drawn up plans to replace them with a single regional centre - claiming it could save more lives while cutting costs by as much as 30 per cent.

But the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the local knowledge of the operators at the four control rooms helped firefighters and warned that expertise could be lost if a single regional base was established.

The union also said some control room staff could lose their jobs under the shake-up.

Regional FBU officer Mick Headon said: "We have major concerns both for our firefighters and the communities in which we live because they are certainly not best served by a regional centre.

"It is the local knowledge element we feel that is going to save lives than having a regional control room. In our view, lives could be well put at risk if you have a centralised control room." Senior members of Yorkshire's fire authorities, who are local councillors, have also voiced concern about the proposal from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) - which are part of wider plans to axe existing fire control rooms for regions across England.