Firefighters' union bosses say their "worst fears" over centralised 999 call centres have been realised after it emerged the national project is running three years late and 14 times over budget.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU) representatives in Bradford are calling for urgent discussions over potential job losses at the West Yorkshire brigade's existing control centre at Birkenshaw, Bradford. The base is expected to close along with 45 others nationally over the next three years.

Jobs are expected to be cut there when Yorkshire's 999 calls are centralised to a new regional command centre more than ten miles away in Wakefield.

Following long delays the opening of Yorkshire's new emergency centre is scheduled for 2011, says the FBU. And the cost of the national project has soared to £1.4 billion - 14 times the original estimate of £100 million put forward by consultants in 2005, an FBU spokesman said.

Sean Cahill, regional FBU secretary for Yorkshire, is now calling for an urgent Government re-think on the plans, the timescales and the cost of the project.

He said: "We have been opposed to the closures ever since the scheme was announced a number of years ago and it seems to be fulfilling all our worst fears of what would happen.

He said: "Our fears now are mainly for our emergency fire control operators. Potentially, we could be losing large numbers throughout the region.

"Also, in Bradford people dial 999 and their calls go straight through to the control centre in Birkenshaw, where the operators have a lot of local knowledge they have built up over a number of years, so they can get the 999 call through to the right people to deal with it.

"In future these calls will be re-directed to the central site, which will be taking calls from all over Yorkshire. It will be the same place taking calls from Bradford taking calls from Northallerton, Sheffield and Hull.

"That can only mean a reduction in service for all the areas."

The Government plans to close all 46 of the fire service's 999 command and control centres in England and move to nine regional centres.

They were set to start opening in November 2006 but will now start opening in October 2009 at the earliest.

A spokesman for the Communities and Local Government Department said the project was aimed at creating a more resilient fire service.

He said: "In today's world of industrial accidents, terrorist attacks and natural disasters we need to build resilience at national, regional and local levels.

"Doing nothing is not an option."