UNIONS fighting plans to relocate an emergency call centre have warned the move could affect emergency response times.

Cheshire Fire Service is pushing ahead with proposals to move to a regional fire control centre alongside officers from Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria.

It would see 999 fire call-handing and engine deployment in Cheshire moved from Winsford to Warrington.

But members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) fear the switch will mean operators could take longer to answer emergency calls and make it harder for them to identify locations when under pressure.

They also believe the number of staff employed to deal with emergency calls will be more than halved.

Gwyn Williams, from the union's Region Five group, which represents Cheshire, said: "The fire service won the Service of the Year award in the Emergency Services awards, the fire control room being part of this, which shows it provides an excellent standard of service to the public.

"It is proposed there will be a 60 to 70 per cent cut in control staff employed to respond to emergency calls in the regional fire control, with 37 operators in total being employed to answer 999 calls and undertake all the subsequent workload they generate.

"This would inevitably lead to a reduction in standards of service, with 999 calls waiting longer to be answered, thus delaying the mobilisation of appliances."

The £14 million "super centre" in Warrington has already been built.

Mr Williams added: "Control staff have a tremendous amount of local knowledge and this is often used to assist members of the public and in identifying locations of incidents.

"This wealth of knowledge will be lost in a move to regional fire control. We believe there are no real operational, political or financial advantages to the move.

"It may lead to a reduction in the standard of service to the people of Cheshire."

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority has agreed to work with its West Midlands counterpart towards establishing a joint control room. Councillor David Topping, pictured below left, chairman of Cheshire Fire Authority, said no final decisions had been made on the move.

He said: "In September, elected members in each of the four participating fire authorities agreed to take the project forward and consider the business case further.

"Based upon the proposals, we believe the plans will deliver a better system than the facilities currently at Winsford.

"This includes advanced mapping capabilities that are currently not used by the fire service.

"Working together would also provide a significant financial saving and deliver value for money for local council taxpayers at a time of financial constraint.

"The facility would operate in accordance with the plans agreed by elected members and processes to ensure local oversight and accountability would remain.

"Furthermore, use of the new state-of-the-art facilities at Lingley Mere, in Warrington, means the control facility will remain within the Cheshire county boundary.

"We are engaged in a comprehensive process that includes discussions with the staff involved and also the representative bodies, including the FBU.

"Together we will continue to examine all of the relevant issues."

Ernie Clarke, 69, chairman of Buglawton Community Group in Congleton, said: "Already when we phone them with a report they say 'where's Congleton?'

"I think longer response times would put people's lives at risk."