WILTSHIRE'S fire, police and ambulance services joined together to lay the foundation stone for a new joint control centre despite threats from fire control operators not to set foot in the new building.

The fire communications staff were notable by their absence at the ceremony on the site adjoining Police Headquarters in London Road, Devizes, when Mr Bertie Woolnough, chairman of the Wiltshire Police Authority, Coun Jerry Willmott, chairman of the Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority, and Mr Kevin Small, chairman of the Wiltshire Ambulance Service, performed the stone-laying.

They were joined by Chief Constable Elizabeth Neville, Chief Fire Officer Neil Wright and Chief Ambulance Officer Denis Lauder.

Mr Woolnough said: "It has taken a long time to get this far but we've made it, and today we cement the relationship which will set the pace for the whole country for emergency services to work together."

Fire control operators are unhappy about the proposed move, maintaining the system they are using at the moment is purpose-built for the job. They also say the experience of joint control rooms in other countries has been far from happy.

The three services have made it clear they are looking for increased efficiency without losing jobs.

Although the centre, which opens in September next year, is costing between £6.3 million and £6.8 million, the project is seen as an economising move which will also improve the speed and effectiveness of response to individual emergencies.