East and West Sussex fire services merge control rooms

Two fire services are to merge their existing control rooms into a single control centre.

East Sussex and West Sussex fire services issued a statement which said the move followed a successful bid for £3.6m from the government.

Managers said the merged operation would have more staff on duty, help to cut costs, and provide a more advanced operation.

The new control is expected to begin taking 999 calls in September 2013.

West Sussex County Council cabinet member for public protection Pete Bradbury said: "A single fire control centre in Sussex will have more staff on duty than either of the two current control rooms, as well as save money.

"It will also enhance working with the police and other agencies during an emergency."

John Livings, chairman of East Sussex Fire Authority, said the funding would allow fire chiefs to create a more advanced control centre.

He said the move would allow the fire services to improve in three areas - attendance times, provision of information to incidents, and co-ordination of resources across the two services.