Fire control rooms in Sussex are to be axed after the Government revealed a new regional centre is to be set up in Hampshire.

Emergency calls from Sussex will be answered up to 90 miles away in Fareham, near Southampton, by 2009.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister admitted that the shake-up would result in job losses from Sussex's two local fire control rooms in Eastbourne and Chichester.

But it said that staffing arrangements would be left in the hands of local fire authorities and stressed that there would be vacancies at the new regional centre.

An ODPM spokeswoman said: "It's likely that there will be some job losses. But staffing levels will be a matter for fire and rescue authorities.

"We are putting an emphasis on the need to retain current staff."

The state-of-the-art control room will cover all nine fire services in the South-East - East Sussex, West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and the Isle of Wight.

But the move has raised concerns among local authorities that the service will deteriorate.

Lionel Barnard, West Sussex County Council's cabinet member for public protection, said: "This regional agenda raises many concerns for me and I am not convinced that one control centre will prove more resillient than nine. Although the announcement has now ended a considerable period of uncertainty for all staff who are directly affected, it will raise many questions with regards to their employment that we, as their current employer, are unable to answer.

"It remains a very worrying time for our fire control staff, yet they continue to provide an excellent service in very difficult circumstances."

Martin Burrell, West Sussex Chief Fire Officer, said: "We remain unconvinced that the project will deliver the benefits envisaged.

"For example, in West Sussex we already use advanced technology and our call response time is 45 seconds. It is difficult to see how the Regional Control Centre can improve this."