​A project that will see Gloucestershire’s emergency fire service calls handled in Somerset has been branded “a great white elephant” at Westminster.

Even some supporters of the Government scheme that involves closing existing fire control rooms and replacing them with regional centres, blasted the bungled handling of it to a Parliamentary inquiry.

MPs on a Commons committee were told future governments will have “to seriously consider pulling the plug” on the project.

Members of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee were told the national plans were put together without attention being paid to fire service professionals. One fire chief described the process as “mentally frustrating”.

The criticism came during a hearing into the delays and cost overruns that have dogged the project. Under the move, the county’s dedicated control room at the combined emergency TriService centre at Quedgeley is due to close and move to a regional headquarters in Taunton.

Thousands of pounds are being spent daily on running the regional fire control centre which will not be fully operational for nearly another two years. Figures have revealed how in one month alone the Somerset headquarters that will eventually direct fire and rescue operations in Gloucestershire, cost £140,839 to maintain – nearly £5,000 a day.

With the Government confirming delays to the project, critics warn the bill could cost up to £1 million just to keep the building standing “empty”.

Ministers insist everyone will benefit under the new nationally-linked regional network, with better protection for the public.

But the Fire Brigades Union has branded the project a “disaster” and called for a review of the plans to replace the 46 existing fire control centres – including the seven in the South West – with one for each of the nine English regions.

In evidence to the hearing, John Bonney, president of the Chief Fire Officers Association, said: “We are very committed to the principles of the project. [But] we are concerned at how it’s developed as how badly parts of it has been managed. The fundamental problem is the way the project has been managed.

“There wasn’t enough attention paid to the professional views of what they needed. We will continue to work with the CLG to deliver this project even though it remains very frustrating.”

And he warned that talk of scrapping the scheme was “dangerous in the extreme.”

FBU president Matt Wrack said: “This idea did not come from within the F&RS. It came from within government. The views of professionals within the government have not been taken into account.”

Brian Coleman of the Local Government Association said his organisation has previously been “broadly supportive”.

But he said: “We have now moved to a position of hostility and against the thing in principle.”

A future government will have “to seriously consider pulling the plug” on the project, he said.