London's new fire control centre to be based in Merton

Based at Merton Industrial Estate, the new Brigade emergency call handling centre will be part of a resilient national network of nine fire and rescue service emergency call handling centres in England. These will start to go live in 2009 and be fully operational by 2011.

This is part of a major Government investment in equipping the fire and rescue service for the demands of the 21st century, which range from natural, industrial and man-made disasters to climate change.

Communities and Local Government has worked in close collaboration with London's fire authority on the project.

Nine control centres will replace the existing 46 local fire service control rooms across the country. The announcement of the location of the London site puts the final piece of the network into place.

John Healey said:
"The Government's top priority is protecting the public and increasing the nation's resilience. That's why we are investing in the new national network of regional control centres.

"These will provide the fire and rescue service with a modern, effective control and mobilisation system that will better protect the public. The network will deliver a service that is resilient and capable of responding to anything from a small house fire to a large-scale national emergency.

"There is a compelling need to improve the existing control rooms in England to deal with the increasing range of large scale incidents - from terrorist attacks to floods - that the fire and rescue service faces. Emergency call handling systems need to be up to the challenge.”