MERGERS of emergency services across the North-East will make it harder to respond to a "New Orleans- style" disaster, the Tories said yesterday.

They warned that the amalgamation of fire and emergency crews, as well as police forces, was a receipe for the overlap and confusion seen after the devastation of Hurricana Katrina.

The claim was ridiculed by the Government, which insisted the changes were necessary because local services could be overwhelmed by major incidents. Suspicions raised by plans for the regionalisation of all emergency services prompted the Conservatives to stage a special debate in the Commons.

MPs heard the number of fire control rooms was being cut from 46 to nine, ambulance trusts from 31 to 11 and police forces from 43 to 23.

A new £110m fire control room in Durham will answer North-East 999 calls, leading to the closure of centres in Durham, Hartlepool, Newcastle and Morpeth.

The ambulance proposals would lead to the closure of stations in places such as Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale and St John's Chapel, in County Durham.

Tory MP Caroline Spelman said: "Local emergency services will be mothballed and local knowledge and expertise will be lost. One of the lessons from New Orleans shows that overlapping and confusing tiers of administration compromises our ability to respond."

Fire Services Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the Government was investing almost £1bn to improve the capability to deal with big incidents.