Bristol fire control centre changes put on hold

Changes to the way 999 fire calls are dealt with in Bristol have been put on hold for a further 12 months because of "technical problems".

The Government wants a linked network of nine regional fire control centres across England to replace the current 46 stand-alone control rooms.

Under the plans, first developed in 2004, Bristol's fire control centre will close and all calls will go through a new super centre in Taunton, covering the entire South West.

It was expected that calls from Bristol would be transferred to the new base by November 2010.

However, the Government has said that due to "technical problems with developing the IT system" calls will not now be transferred until November 2011.

It is the latest in a series of delays for the FireControl project, which is not now expected to be completed until the end of 2012 – five years behind schedule.

The Government believes smaller control centres can no longer cope with modern emergencies on the scale of the London terror bombings of 2005.

But the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the delays to the £1.4 billion project would push up "already spiralling costs even further".

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "It is years late and massively over budget with no completion date in sight. To top it all, they can't get the system to work properly."

Communities minister Shahid Malik said FireControl would provide "very substantial safety benefits" by establishing a linked network of control centres for the first time.

Dealing with terrorism, large-scale industrial accidents and flooding would all be easier with the new network, he said.

But the delays mean the full network of nine control centres will not now be in place before the 2012 London Olympics.