Plans to build a new multi-million pound fire station in Mitcham have been thrown into disarray after firefighters branded the project a waste of money.

A Fire Brigade Union (FBU) spokesman described plans to spend up to £9m on a new station an “insult” as the fire service braces itself for future funding cuts.

He said the current station in Cricket Green is fit for purpose and vitally situated at the heart of the community.

The London Fire Brigade insist the current station is out of date and already own the proposed site of a new station 400m along London Road.

But the FBU spokesman, who asked not to be named, said: “The only form of public consultation on this has related to planning, but from a tax payers point of view, why are they paying for a new station when there's nothing wrong with the current one?

“The firefighters working in Mitcham haven't even been asked for their views. The whole situation and process that has been followed is just wrong.”

He added that if the current station was not fit for purpose, it would have been closed. Instead more than £300,000 has been spent on refurbishing it in the last 18 months.

The use of PFI to finance the new project was also condemned as “credit card economics”.

But the London Fire Brigade claims the new station is vital to provide additional training facilites and house more than the one engine currently based in Mitcham.

A spokesman said: “The current site is not big enough to develop further, and is also located in a conservation area which further restricts the scope for improvement works.

“Our priority is to provide the best emergency service we can for Londoners. The current fire station building does not meet modern requirements for our fire and rescue service, our staff or our work with the local community to prevent fires.”

He added firefighters now need to be equipped to respond to a wider range of emergencies, from terrorism to flooding.