Firemen's leaders oppose planned cuts to control centres

Leaders of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) are fighting the scheme, arguing that it will lead to more loss of life.

Justice committee members have indicated that they have no objection to the number of control centres being cut from eight to as few as two.

Firefighters fear that the MSPs' failure to oppose the proposal makes a reduction more likely.

It would mean an increase in the injuries and deaths we see in Scotland Kenny Ross Fire Brigades Union

FBU Scottish leader Kenny Ross warned: "We would have less control officers dealing with more calls which would take longer to handle.

"It would mean that there would be an increase in the response times, resulting in an increase in the injuries and deaths we see in Scotland at present."

The Scottish National Party said it supported the firefighters' objections and the party's representative on the committee has disassociated himself from its recommendation.

A Scottish Executive spokesman said a decision had yet to be made on the details of fire service reform.

Jeff Ord believes brigades could be run from one control room

In September, Scotland's chief inspector of fire services backed plans to axe most of the nation's eight control rooms.

Jeff Ord told MSPs that Scotland's brigades could rely on one control room.

However, he added that proposals recommended by consultants Mott MacDonald in a report would "inevitably" lead to less staff taking calls.

Fire chiefs oppose the plans, fearing that centralising call operators will lead to a potentially dangerous loss of local knowledge, such as unofficial place names, as well as problems with dialects and accents.