DORSET jobs will be lost when the controversial £1.4 billion regional fire control centre goes live.

Deputy county fire chief Steve Lee says some redundancies will be "inevitable" when Dorchester Fire Control relocates to the new Taunton centre in 2010.

The government plans to transfer seven control centres to the new base covering the whole of the south-west have been fiercely condemned by fire union leaders.

Aside from the expected redundancies, they believe lives could be at risk because it will be manned by a fraction of the number of operators now covering the region.

A total of 63 people will be needed at the Taunton base, instead of around 175 employed at the seven centres today.

Mr Lee said: "The regional centre opens in 2009 but Dorset will not move until 2010, so this gives us two years to work with our staff, who are understandably unsettled at this time.

"There will be possibilities to transfer to the centre, and other internal vacancies will become available, but unfortunately there will be some redundancies."

Dorset Fire Brigades Union (FBU) representative Karen Adams said: "This regional centre makes my blood boil - it is just another example of cutting public services."

"Potentially we will have a fraction of staff answering 999 calls and we could be set to lose experienced people.

"We may also find ourselves in a position where the operator has no real local knowledge."

Karen says the whole idea of the regional centre is "ridiculous", adding: "The government has this idea that these are just call centres, but the people who work here are highly experienced and a first point of contact for people in trouble. They can save lives."

Clive Kemp, the regional project director for the new headquarters, said new technology would increase safety across the region.

"Although the control centre will employ fewer staff than currently employed across the region, with such a long lead-in time we are confident that fire and rescue services will do all that they can to lessen any adverse impact on staff," he added.

The Taunton regional centre will replace control rooms in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Avon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

But FBU bosses say it is already three years late and 14 times over budget - a union study claims the national project's costs have leapt from the initial £100 million to a staggering £1.4 billion.

The Department for Communities and Local Government disputed these findings, saying the £100 million was an "early estimate for the one-off costs".

The spokesman added: "The £1.4 billion is the total forecast cost providing emergency call handling and mobilisation control services for England for 17 years - this is a saving."