Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire police forces have agreed on a proposal which could see the three current control rooms cut down to two by March 2017.

Under these proposals, agreed at a meeting between the police and crime commissioners and chief constables of each county, the force’s control room in Bedfordshire would be closed, while those at Hinchingbrooke, in Huntingdon, and Welwyn Garden City, in Hertfordshire, would remain operational.

Communications lead for the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police change programme Vanessa Lynch said: “These are very much proposals. We have around 800 civilian staff and officers working in the functions that may be impacted by the proposals, but we don’t know about any possible job losses at this stage.

“We still have the detailed design work to do before we carry out extensive staff consultation.”

Proposals also include the use of new technology designed to allow the public to record and track incidents online and to introduce alternative ways to communicate with the police.

Police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire Sir Graham Bright said: “The decision made today means we can move to staff consultation and detailed implementation planning.

“From public feedback, I appreciate how important both the 999 and 101 services are. This announcement of potential collaboration represents the long-term ambition for a reliable 101 and 999 service across the three counties.”

Chief Constable for Cambridgeshire Simon Parr, who has announced his intention to retire at the end of 2015, said: “Over the past five years we have made great strides to transform how we deliver our services to the public, through enhanced use of technology, while continuing to maintain our frontline officer numbers.”