Concerned Aberdeen firefighters have claimed they could lose out on vital equipment now a repair centre has been shifted out of the city.
The current workshop, which is part of the fire service’s Aberdeen headquarters at Anderson Drive, has been be transferred to Dundee.
The move follows the decision to relocate the city’s control room, with calls, as of this week, being handled in Tayside.
The fire service has confirmed its engines and equipment will now be serviced in a multimillion-pound facility at Claverhouse.
However, a staff member, who did not wish to be named, said last night the move could result in delays to vehicles being returned to operation.
The whistleblower added: “These vehicles are going to have to travel 70 miles to be repaired, or they’re going to have to be off the road for two or three days until a mechanic can come from Dundee – frontline staff will be affected.
“I think it’s wrong the third-biggest city in Scotland has been stripped of all of its assets.”
He also claimed that workshop staff were being forced to relocate or quit their jobs.
He said: “The control room staff were offered a severance package. But we were told our jobs were in Dundee, take it or leave it.”
In response, the fire service said that north-east firefighters would continue to be equipped to the “highest degree”.
A spokeswoman for the service stated: “Our vehicles and our equipment are obviously essential for our firefighters to stand on the front line to protect the public at times of emergency.
“Our vehicles will continue to be serviced to the very highest degree possible across Scotland – from our locations at Dundee and Inverness as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh.
“The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service operates a no compulsory redundancy policy and we always work with our people to attempt to find them an alternative opportunity that meets their needs within our organisation.
“Our communities across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray, and throughout the north, will now be protected by a modern fire and rescue service capable of deploying resources from across the whole of Scotland at times of significant emergency.”
She added: “Our Anderson Drive work shop in Aberdeen closed in October following a carefully phased process.
“We worked closely with our people to either relocate to the Asset Resource Centre at Dundee or work across the north from our mobile units.”
