FIRE chiefs have rejected calls to build a new regional fire control room in North Yorkshire.

Members of the county council's Richmondshire Area Committee wrote to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service asking it to consider building the new Yorkshire and Humberside control room on Colburn Business Park.

But Nigel Hutchinson, chief executive of the service, has replied saying the site does not meet requirements.

In a letter to the committee, he said: "Some very demanding criteria were issued against which potentially suitable sites could be identified.

"It quickly became apparent that the criteria to be applied effectively precluded anywhere within North Yorkshire from serious consideration.

"I regret therefore, that despite our best efforts the chosen location for the fire control centre is highly unlikely to be in North Yorkshire due to a failure for any location to meet the Government's criteria."

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has stated that new regional fire control rooms need to be accessible to urban centres with a population of 100,000 or more.

Sites must be outside military areas and areas where aircraft fly below 10,000ft.

The Government is to replace county control rooms with regional centres, as part of a fire service overhaul.