Fire chiefs provoked fury last night as it emerged they are planning to close a key north-east service station and ask workers to move to Dundee.
Politicians demanded answers after the Press and Journal learned that the Aberdeen garage which maintains fire engines across the north-east will close within months.
A dozen workers at the Anderson Drive facility have been told that their jobs will be moving to a new centre in Tayside, which is due to open next year.
The move was branded “disgraceful” last night, having emerged amid the ongoing controversy over the closure and centralisation of police control rooms in the north and north-east.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stressed there would be no compulsory redundancies and that it had detailed plans in place to ensure a “carefully managed transition”.
But one source said: “It has not been handled well – the staff have not been informed or kept up to date.
“There are lots of people with years of service being told they must move to Dundee or they will be out of a job.”
North-east Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said there had been “no transparency” from the brigade.
He added: “This is a disgraceful decision which will mean jobs are moved from Aberdeen.
“It’s shocking how we have not been consulted about the impact on local staff.
“I spoke to fire chiefs on the Scottish Fire Service Board and they indicated that the current centre would be relocated to Portlethen and that people’s jobs would be moved there.
“I will be writing to the fire chief urgently for an explanation.
“An offer of a job 65 miles away in another city is no substitution.
“On top of the refusal to reverse the closure of police control rooms this is a blow to Aberdeen and the SNP government is responsible.”
Mike Raeburn, the former convener of the Grampian Fire and Rescue Service joint board, claimed centralisation had been the plan all along.
He said: “It is disappointing to hear that the servicing of fire appliances will no longer occur in Aberdeen.
“The relocation of services and centralisation was always on the cards following the decision to create one Scottish fire and rescue services.”
The new centre will be located at Claverhouse in Dundee and is expected to open next year.
Under the move, the engines which currently operate in Grampian would have to travel to Dundee once a year to be serviced, as well as for any running repairs.
The centralisation of Scotland’s eight regional fire brigades into a single service was announced in 2012 at the same time as the single police service, with ministers insisting at the time that both organisations would remain “at the heart of the community”.
Plans to close police control rooms in Aberdeen and Inverness were postponed this month amid an ongoing inquiry into the police response to a call about a crash on the M9 which resulted in the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill.
Tommy Campbell, the north-east co-ordinator of the Unite union, criticised plans to shut down the Aberdeen workshop.
He said: “I am utterly opposed to the closure of the garage and mechanic support services in Aberdeen.
“The mechanics and others have served well in Aberdeen for many years and should be able to continue.”
A fire service spokesman said: “The service has in place detailed implementation plans to ensure a carefully managed transition for any staff currently based in Aberdeen affected by the creation of the forthcoming Asset Resource Centre in Dundee.
“A key part of that implementation process is ongoing consultation with our employees.
“There will be no compulsory redundancies due to the closure of the vehicle workshops at North Anderson Drive in Aberdeen.”
Last year, fire chiefs announced a £300,000 investment in a new workshop and asset resource centre in Inverness.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the decision was one for the fire service.
“Any decisions on fire service staffing, including the location of jobs, is a matter for the board of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to take forward in partnership with the relevant staff associations and unions,” she said.