Shropshire’s fire control room has been closed on several occasions with emergency calls handled by an authority in a neighbouring county, a senior fire officers’ union claimed today.

The Fire Officers’ Association today said it was investigating two claims concerning Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service following its suspension of fire control room staff this year.

A number of staff have faced disciplinary hearings but no details of their alleged misconduct or subsequent punishments have yet been disclosed.

Alan Tranter, from the FOA, today criticised the procedures in place at the service and said the union was investigating claims that personal information was disclosed during an internal investigation.

He said the FOA was also investigating claims that the control room was closed a number of times with Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service taking over.

Paul Raymond, chief fire officer at Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, today declined to comment on the matter, but invited Mr Tranter to contact him directly.

Mr Tranter said the union was concerned with how the service handled an internal investigation which saw five staff suspended from the control room in February. A number of other staff have also received disciplinary hearings.

Mr Tranter said: “The FOA is very disappointed and very saddened by the course of action Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service took in dealing with a series of events relating to our members who work at their fire control. We believe that all these events were avoidable had the correct policies and procedures been in place within the authority.”

Chris Enness, deputy chief fire officer for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We have a long standing regional programme providing support and resilience with other fire services and this support will form part of this programme.”

By Russell Roberts