FIRE chiefs in West Yorkshire will vote today on forming a company which will run fire and rescue services across Yorkshire and Humberside.

The executive committee of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority will discuss controversial government plans which will replace 46 control rooms in England with nine new centres by 2011.

A report to the committee calls for documents to be formally signed to ensure the company which would run the call centres, could be established by the target date of May 1 this year.

Union leaders have warned that the cost of building the new centres will be more than the estimated £1bn.

Firefighters are also angry about the projected £6m annual cost to taxpayers of running a new regional 999 call centre for the Yorkshire and Humber region which is being built at Paragon Business Village. The business village is off junction 41 of the M1 at Wakefield.

The new centre will replace the four existing Yorkshire ones, including the West Yorkshire one at Birkenshaw.