Critics of a new “super” fire headquarters in the Black Country today called for a full explanation about its future after the new Government pledged to abandon plans to regionalise the fire service.

Doubts have been raised about the future of a £23 million Regional Control Centre in Wolverhampton, which is still not fully operational and costs taxpayers £1.7m in rent, maintenance and security despite opening three years ago.

The Liberal Conservative coalition Government is set to scrap Labour’s plans to force fire services to merge.

The centre at Wolverhampton Business Park is meant to bring together West Midlands, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Hereford and Worcestershire fire services. But new fire minister Bob Neill has said the £423m national scheme, to replace 46 fire control centres with nine, has cost too much and taken too long.

Tory Councillor Joan Stevenson, who represents Wolverhampton on West Midlands Fire Authority, today questioned whether it would be right to “mothball or close” the regional centre, it having already cost “an enormous amount”.

She added: “The bean counters in London now need to decide how they want to proceed and they need to consider what will be the best value for money given the situation as it stands.”

The Fire Brigades Union said axing the project would end people’s fears about their jobs, and argued it could work out cheaper for the Government to cut its losses and scrap the scheme outright.

Sasha Farley, for West Midlands control room staff, said the union was seeking clarification on the Government’s policy.

“Our best case scenario would be if they scrapped it altogether and consulted with us on what they want to do next,” she said.

The West Midlands centre lies in the Wolverhampton North East constituency of new Labour MP Emma Reynolds.

She said: “The new coalition Government has to consider very carefully the considerable investment that has already been made.”