Fears have been allayed over Chorley's fire service training centre after a union boss put a question mark over its future.

The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service centre at Washington Hall, Euxton, has been operating since 1964.

Steve Harman, brigade secretary for the Fire Brigades Union, raised concerns about its future following the announcement of plans to review the county's fire and rescue service to reduce costs.

Mr Harman, who is based at Washington Hall, said: "We have recently heard plans to scrap Lancashire's fire control centre, currently based in Preston, and replace it with a regional office in Cheshire.

"We currently have training facilities for the region at Euxton, Greater Manchester and Cheshire and so there is no ruling out that sometime in the future they could not be regionalised too."

But county councillor Bob Wilkinson, chair of the combined fire authority, told the Citizen: "There are no plans to move into one training centre and shut others down. If that was the case we would hope ours would be the centre to stay open. We feel it is better than anyone else's.

"All we are told to do now is look round the region for a more efficient way of doing things. We think our centre is the most efficient in the region, if not further afield."

Coun Wilkinson also defended plans to reduce the number of officers manning fire engines which is being opposed by the union. The plans are part of the 'Integrated Risk Management Plan' for 2006/07.

Mr Wilkinson said the fire service would remain up to standard, with more fire appliances turning out when needed.

He said: "We are maintaining an adequate emergency system whilealso giving people free home fire safety checks and smoke alarms and we have to pay for it somehow."