Dorset 999 fire service calls handled by Wiltshire control centre

The new authority of Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue will officially exist from April 2016

Emergency calls to the fire service in Dorset are now being handled by a joint control centre in Wiltshire.

The Service Control Centre in Potterne, near Devizes, will answer calls for Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue services after a merger was approved in December 2013.

Dorset Fire Brigade Union (FBU) said it was an "emotional day".

More than a dozen staff from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service have moved over from the Dorset site in Poundbury.

Both fire services will officially merge from 1 April 2016.

Karen Adams, branch secretary of the Dorset FBU, said: "We were very disappointed with the original decision to relocate to Wiltshire.

"There will be fewer operators on duty and there will be a loss of local knowledge. It was an emotional day."

She said 12 or 13 staff had moved to the new site, six had retired and three were training to become firefighters in Dorset.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Fire Control tweeted: "The new Dorset & Wiltshire Service Control Centre is now live. Please follow this account for updates! #dorset #wiltshire".