PLANS to build a regional fire response centre for the North West have been sharply criticised by politicians in South Cheshire.

Councillors have labelled the government drive to divert emergency calls away from area divisions a 'dis-aster waiting to happen', citing the growing numbers of complaints about the Cheshire Police call centre at Winsford as evidence that the move would be deeply unpopular.

At present, all fires in South Cheshire are reported to a control room in Winsford before being forwarded to fire stations in Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach.

But under plans being championed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, calls from as far apart as Cumbria and Crewe would be processed by a single call centre at Warrington, raising fears that log-jams in the system could delay response times and endanger lives.

Margaret Simon, county councillor for Rope and a member of the Cheshire Fire Authority board, said: 'The restructuring of all England's fire control centres will cost a massive £72 million, diverting resources away from frontline protection.

'We are all familiar with the difficulties caused by the change to the way calls to the police are handled. We received many complaints about difficulties getting through and we know many people fear this would be repeated with the fire service.

'Furthermore, civil resilience will be damaged by placing all the eggs in one basket. If the regional centre is forced offline, the whole emergency response will go down across a massive geographical area.'

Former Crewe and Nantwich Conservative parliamentary candidate Eveleigh Moore Dutton, also a member of the Cheshire Fire Authority, questioned why the government was not looking to invest in greater co-ordination between all three emergency services on a county-by-county basis.

She said: 'In Berkshire there is an emergency control centre that deals with calls to all three emergency services. They can achieve real joined up service without sacrificing the local knowledge that can make such a difference when responding to people in danger and distress.

'Why wasn't this model considered for Cheshire? We value our local emergency service personnel and I know they are devoted to serving their local communities.'

But Cllr Tony Hooton, the Labour chairman of Cheshire Fire Authority, backed plans for a regional call centre.

He said: 'After 9/11 we need control centres that are resilient and equipped to cope with major incidents such as terrorist attacks.

'By using the latest technology, staff will be able to identify callers' locations and because the centres will be networked, calls will be answered more quickly, even during peak times.'