Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire authorities merger agreed by Home Office

Under the plans, the 11 stations on the island would receive £3m

Delayed plans to create a combined fire authority (CFA) for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have been approved by the Home Secretary.

The merger had been expected to be complete by April next year but was put back amid "unrelated national issues".

Isle of Wight Council said the plan had a new "go-live date" of April 2021 but must first be approved by parliament.

The two authorities already share a chief fire officer and other resources as part of a partnership agreement.

The merger aims to simplify the governance of the partnership and pool resources, skills and knowledge.

Chief fire officer Neil Odin said: "The additional 12 months will provide an opportunity for us to more closely align our services in advance of the CFA going live than was otherwise going to be possible."

Hampshire's control room already deals with 999 calls for the island.

The merger is not expected to have any impact on staff numbers, the council said.

Approval was granted by the outgoing Home Secretary Sajid Javid before he left to become chancellor.