Plans are being drawn up to move a fire brigade maintenance depot and its 30 staff from Winchester to Eastleigh.

The move would leave Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service with a vacant plot in Easton Lane, Winnall.

Service bosses are staying silent on whether the site could be a new home for Winchester fire station.

No announcement will be made over the future of the current base in North Walls until a decision is reached on the Winnall depot, they added.

County council member for Downlands ward, Ann Bailey, said firefighters at North Walls would be concerned about any transfer plans. "It's about this issue of how long it will take to get from A to B. They're happy where they are."

The Fire Brigades Union wants the service to prove that emergencies could be reached in time if the station moves to Winnall. While the new base would be closer to the M3 and A34, it would be further from central Winchester, the prison and the County Hospital.

Union spokesman, Eddie Burrows, said: "We would be asking if they have assessed the time it will take to get across town." He added that if the figures looked bad, they would oppose the move, or call for a smaller "satellite" station.

Mr Burrows speculated that a new station at Winnall could include sleeping quarters, allowing firefighters to be on site at all times.

At North Walls, three tenders and 6-12 firefighters are present by day. A relief crew from Southampton then keeps watch until midnight. Between midnight and 8am, there is no crew and firefighters are summoned there from their homes if an emergency occurs.

Hampshire Fire Authority has established a committee to examine the relocation plan. If they back the plan, 30 jobs will transfer to the fire service HQ in Eastleigh and the Easton Lane plot would be empty.

Mrs Bailey, a member of the fire authority, said if the relocation of the station was proposed, then she would argue against it on behalf of the firefighters.