A £57m scheme to relocate nine London fire stations, including one in Mitcham, has been labelled as economic madness by unions.

Details of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) plans, which work like a mortgage, remain confidential but will see the taxpayer foot the bill as Mitcham fire station relocates from its current location in Cricket Green to the A239 junction with London Road - as part of London-wide redevelopment.

The new site would provide on-site training, space for extra appliances and community engagement, the London Fire Brigade said.

But it refused to give any breakdown of the costs because of “commercial confidentiality”.The plans, which are being consulted, come as the London Fire Brigade looks to save £65m over the next two years.

Fire Brigade Union representative, Dick Tompkins, said: “I don’t know why £57m is going to be spent on a privately financed initiative when significant cuts have to be made. It is political and economic madness.

“We [the staff] have not been consulted on whether we want to leave the station or not. We have only been involved in the last month.”He added the public consultation which took place prior to plans being drawn up two years ago.

He said: “We had only 10 respondents and it was not well publicised.

It is questionable or not whether the public of Merton have actually had any input in this project.”Speaking at the public consultation at Vestry Hall in Mitcham on Friday, resident John Mansfield, 65, of Mitcham Park, voiced his concerns and does not believe the relocation to be necessary.

He said: “I think it is a waste of money.

"At first, we were told we were going to get a new fire engine but we are not even going to get that.”

Ian Munn, councillor for Cricket Green ward, said there were concerns about the financial impact of the project.

He said: “The 25 year repayment scheme will hit the community hard. It will eventually trickle down to us who will have to pay in some direct or indirect way.

”A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the PFI arrangement also covered operational costs, like maintenance, for 25 years.

He said: "The project breakdown of costs remains commercially confidential, but a comparison against more traditional builds recently undertaken by LFB and other PFIs are favourable. 

"The nine stations being delivered vary greatly in scope and Mitcham is one of the smaller stations."