A PROPOSED new regional fire control centre will not be built in Dorset, it has been confirmed.

Instead, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has announced that the South West Fire and Rescue control centre will be based at Taunton.

The control centre will be part of a new national network of control centres as part of a major Government investment to modernise the Fire and Rescue Service.

Nine control centres will replace the existing 46 local fire service control rooms, including the Dorchester-based Dorset control, by the end of 2009.

Plans to have just nine control rooms have been criticised by the Fire Brigade Union, which says the moves will cost jobs and could even cost lives because staff would have no local knowledge.

Karen Adams, secretary of the Dorset branch of the FBU, said the plan was expected to cost in the region of £44m to implement.

She said: "This £44 million would pay for an extra 1,400 firefighters who could save lives.

"Or it would pay for a major boost to community fire safety, or for initiatives to reduce arson.

"It is money that could save lives.

"Instead the money is being used to line the pockets of yet more consultants to allow them to chase yet another technology rainbow, using untested technology.

"And to find the money, the new scheme will ensure that there are fewer staff to deal with more calls from the public - as calls have been increasing every year."

Martin Chapman, Dorset's Chief Fire Officer, said the announcement that the regional control room would be based in Taunton was not unexpected.

He said: "We were 99 per cent certain that Dorset would not be chosen for the control room.

"It's just a location at the moment and there are still many issues that have to be dealt with. "We don't know how many people will be working there and under what terms.

"It's still difficult for existing staff to know whether or not to go for a job at the new centre.

"But now we have a location they will be working towards appointing staff."

He said that although the new centre would be based in Somerset it should not affect the service Dorset people receive when they dial 999.

"It should not make a difference," he said.

"We have the most up-to-date command and control in the country and this new equipment will allow us to operate the same high level of service."

ODPM Minister Jim Fitzpatrick MP, who made the announcement on the control rooms, said: "There is a compelling need to modernise and rationalise the control rooms in England, as part of the overall modernisation agenda.

"In the post-9/11 world, and in the wake of the events of July 7, we need control centres that are resilient enough to deal with a terrorist attack or deal with any natural disaster.