FEARS are being raised that up to 40 fire service staff will lose their jobs under controversial proposals to create a regional control centre spanning the south.

Union chiefs claim the proposals could lead to mistakes in handling call-outs and put a huge strain on brigades.

Under the plans, Hampshire's emergency room in Eastleigh would be replaced by one complex covering a massive area ranging from Buckinghamshire to Kent.

The Fire Brigades Union says the new government report that put forward the regionalisation scheme only focused on cost-cutting and not improvements.

Hampshire's control room employs about 40 people.

Roy Goring, communications co-ordinator for the FBU in Hampshire, said: "The report emphasises the reliance on advanced technology to deliver local needs, but it ignores the high skill levels of the present operators.

"The reduction in the number of controls will put a significant strain on the infrastructure of the UK fire service in the event of a terrorist attack or other national emergency.

"The FBU have always welcomed modernisation in the fire service, but it has to be properly researched and funded."

He said he feared if the moves went ahead it would lead to creating a regional "super fire authority", as reported in the Daily Echo last year.

The fire service is just the latest rescue organisation to face a merger threat.

Proposals to merge Hampshire Ambulance Service with counterparts in Surrey, and Lee-on-the-Solent Coastguard with Dorset's have both been mooted in the past but eventually scrapped.

Brigades across the country have the chance over the next six weeks to comment on the fire control room proposals.

A spokesman for Hampshire Fire Service said: "There's a whole raft of answers we are looking to get from the government so we know what we can respond to and what our reaction can be."

Last month 11 fire station cooks lost their jobs as part of a major shake-up of the service's own catering arrangements.