Deal signed over new fire stations for Gloucestershire
A deal has been signed for a £40m scheme to build four new community fire stations and a life skills centre in Gloucestershire.
The county council said the building consortium Blue 3 would begin construction work next month.
Government funding for the private finance initiative was confirmed last month, despite concerns it could be dropped as part of the Spending Review.
The new fire stations have been located to quicken response times to 999 calls.
Gloucester's Eastern Avenue station will be replaced by new sites at Cheltenham Road East, Churchdown and at Shepherd Road, Tuffley.
Cheltenham's Keynsham Road headquarters will be demolished and rebuilt and a second station will go up at Uckington.
During building work, Keynsham Road crews will operate from a temporary site at Kingsditch.
The life skills centre, which aims to educate people about community safety, will be built alongside the new Tuffley station.
Chief Fire Officer, Jon Hall, said: "This project is a significant investment into community safety in Gloucestershire and I am grateful to local councillors for their faith and support... at a time when many other hard decisions are having to be made."