Emergency calls from all over the north and north-east could be handled in Dundee under plans to shake-up police control rooms.
The Press and Journal can reveal proposals to slash the number of 999 centres from ten to three will leave bases in Tayside, Glasgow and Edinburgh covering the whole country.
Neither the old Northern Constabulary nor Grampian force areas will have their own control room.
The move will be unveiled later today and is likely to be rubber stamped at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority board on January 30.
And it is likely to be greeted with a furious backlash in the Highlands, islands and north-east.
However, Police Scotland does plan to locate a new command and control centre in Inverness for major national incidents and events.
It is understood it could be staffed by about 50 people in what would provide a jobs boost for the north.
There would also be a boost for Aberdeen, which would become home to a new national energy industry liaison unit, which could become a centre of excellence for emergency response for the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Yesterday, Highlands MP and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the establishment of a single police force had been a “disaster” for the region and claimed the new structure was threatening local policing.
Highland Council leader Drew Hendry last night admitted that the outcome would not be what the authority set out to achieve, but said it would be a “result” if the recommendations were backed at the meeting in Glasgow next week.
He said: “If this is approved, we would be absolutely delighted. I think it shows the nature of our positive campaign for a joint control room for the Highlands has borne fruit.
“It may not be exactly what we set out for, but it is a real result for us.
“The fact that we will have a national control room that will deal with national events is entirely appropriate.
“When we started out, we were fighting against an inevitability that we would lose the control room, to have got such a result as a consequence of our persistence and our engagement is a real boost and shows that our handling of the matter has given us a real opportunity to benefit.”
It is understood that Police Scotland wants the energy industry liaison unit in Aberdeen to become a “world leading” facility to deal with emergency incidents including helicopter ditchings as well as offshore policing.
The level of investment in the Aberdeen and Inverness centres is not known as yet. However, the loss of the control room in Aberdeen is also likely to provoke anger from opponents who have railed against a perceived “centralisation agenda” from the SNP government.
Liberal Democrat city councillor Martin Greig, the last convener of the old Grampian Joint Police Board, said the former regional force had “a long tradition” of expertise in dealing with major incidents in the North Sea.
Mr Greig said: “The board does not have to approve what is being recommended, and I would urge the SPA to reject any proposal to close the control room in Aberdeen. The offer of some kind of compromise in the form of a regional response unit is completely unacceptable.”
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