OXFORDSHIRE’S fire control room could still move to Hampshire, county fire chiefs have admitted.

The Government announced this week it was axing the plan to create nine new regional control centres under a £423m project.

The county’s control room in Kidlington had been due to merge with eight others across the South East in 2012 under the scheme.

But the project could still go-ahead after Oxfordshire’s deputy chief fire officer Colin Thomas has revealed Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue’s call handlers could still move to Fareham, in Hants, as part of four options it is considering for the long-term future.

The planned 30,000sq ft regional fire centre is currently being leased by the Department for Communities and Local Government at a cost of £174,434 a month.

The centre was built under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) agreement at no up-front cost to the taxpayer.

However, the new Fire Minister Bob Neill terminated an agreement with the contractor Cassidian after declaring that no more public money could be sunk into the project.

Mr Thomas, who is leading a review into the future of the control room, said a move to Hampshire could still be made if six or seven other fire brigades clubbed together, and an acceptable cost of using the centre could be agreed.

The other three options being considered are for smaller merged control centres including:

*A Thames Valley area centre.

* A joint control room with between one and three neighbouring brigades not necessarily including others in the Thames Valley.

* A control room with brigades in a non-neighbouring part of the UK.

Mr Thomas said: “Like all good project managers we have had contingencies in place.

“However, people should be suitably reassured that right at the centre of our decision making is making sure what happens next is fit for purpose for the people of Oxfordshire.

“Our number one priority is to continue to provide a good quality service.

“Our second priority is continue to ensure the existing equipment is fit for purpose and ensuring the staff go through this period of extreme uncertainty with support.

“It remains a possibility if that centre (in Hampshire) could be made available to us at a price that was appropriate. It’s an option we’ll consider along with all the others.”

The brigade’s current control room is staffed by 22 people working in four shifts of five people.

The centre’s equipment has an estimated lifespan of a further 10 years after the county council invested £150,000 in a new computer system which will be finished in March next year.