A TOWN council unanimously rejected the proposed location of a new station which would house fire, police, ambulance and mountain rescue services on one site.

Barnard Castle Town Council agreed the facility - called a quad-service station - would be an excellent idea, but in the wrong place.

Members discussed the proposals at a full town council meeting last night (Monday, November 17).

The discussion was held as the Government announced that a sum of £3.78m has been awarded to emergency services in County Durham to build the unique station, the first of its kind in the country.

Stuart Errington, deputy chief fire officer at Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, gave a presentation outlining a three-year strategic plan which will see the service save £3.6m to meet reductions in Government funding.

He said the newly awarded funding from the Government was only available for a quad-service station and that if there was no station built, there was no money available.

“We have to be innovative and do interesting things or we are not going to meet our aims,” he said.

Mr Errington answered questions from councillors and residents who attended the meeting regarding the proposals for the new quad-service station.

Although councillors and residents agreed the idea was a good one, nobody agreed with building the station in place of the existing fire station in Wilson Street, Barnard Castle.

Concerns were raised regarding the impact on local residents and the safety of high speed emergency service vehicles accessing the station via a residential street on a regular basis.

Councillor John Blissett, the town's mayor, said: “I think it’s an excellent idea but the location is totally wrong. At the end of the day there isn’t the room to do it.

“You are talking like it’s a done deal and I don’t accept that.”

Mr Errington said: “All I can say is that if there is a better site then we will give that as much consideration as we can. We want to have the fire station in the best location possible.”

There will be a public consultation event on Wednesday, December 10, from 5pm to 9pm, and on Saturday, December 13, between 10am and 4pm at the site in Wilson Street.

Representatives of fire, police and ambulance will be in attendance to talk to locals and answer any questions.

The proposed determination date for planning permission is next May, with the hope that work will start on site the following August, ready for the site to be fully operational by July 2016.

To view the fire service's three-year strategic plan, visit www.ddfire.gov.uk/service-plans