PLANS to merge the Hampshire firefighters with the Isle of Wight service would see £3 million upgrades for the Island's bases.

The 11 stations will be brought inline with mainland standards, if the proposals to merge Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority and the IOW force get the go-ahead.

Fire bosses say the “old and poor” state of the stations will require £3million-worth of work over the next three to five years, with £1.6 million of this urgently needed in the next two.

Hampshire civic chiefs agreed to push forward with a 12-week public consultation, a decision that was put to island leaders.

If approved, results will be published in November.

Speaking at a meeting of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in Winchester, councillor Christopher Carter said he had spoken to IOW leader David Stewart, who confirmed the authority would back the proposals.

Currently, the mainland service is made up of crews from Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth.

But taking over the island’s the combined authority would need to find an extra £460,000 a year to “properly maintain” the service.

Around £200,000 of this will be funded by a Band D tax increase of £3.74 per year, which will only be billed to islanders.

Rob Carr, chief financial officer at Hampshire County Council, said this is to bring the IOW’s precept charge in line with Hampshire – £65.74.

Other cash, fire bosses say, will be gained from combining assets, which will reduce unnecessary spending.

Chief fire officer Neil Odin is confident combining the services will be good for the authority.

“We have already gained a great deal of insight from the way the Isle of Wight (fire officers) deals with things,” he said.

“On the mainland we have a lot of support from all around us, but the island force has learnt to be self sufficient.

“They have learnt a lot of different skills (that we have not).”