Gordon Brown is risking the wrath of the Queen by scrapping plans for a new passenger jet to take ministers and members of the Royal Family on overseas trips.

In a surprise announcement, the Government said that it had abandoned the £100 million plans to lease two new aircraft.

Jim Fitzpatrick, a junior Transport Minister, said that the decision had been taken because of rising running costs and Mr Brown’s rules introduced last year insisting that ministers take scheduled flights where possible.

Instead the Prime Minister has authorised the Royal Family to buy a small jet with 10-15 seats that can only be used inside Britain, a government spokeswoman said. The jet will be paid for by the Department for Transport and ministers will be allowed access to British flights. No budget has been allocated for the aircraft.

For overseas trips, ministers and royalty will have either to use scheduled flights or charter commercial aircraft. Currently ministers and the Royal Family use 32 (The Royal) Squadron, but this will be unavailable after April 1 next year.

The Gershon review in 2004 recommended that the Government buy two dedicated aircraft: an Airbus seating 70-80 and a smaller executive jet for 15-20 passengers for European travel.

The idea of a dedicated aircraft for the Prime Minister and Royal Family, then dubbed “Blair Force One” after the US President’s Air Force One, had been considered at different times throughout Tony Blair’s premiership. Mr Blair agreed to lease the aircraft, which would have cost about £100 million, last May as one of his final acts as Prime Minister. At the time, the Conservatives opposed the decision saying it sent “totally the wrong message”.

He approved the decision after he had to fly to a European summit in Brussels in 2006 on board a plane displaying Austrian livery. Before Christmas, Gordon Brown travelled to the Middle East in a private Swiss jet.

But yesterday Mr Fitzpatrick revealed that Mr Brown had decided to scrap the plans for both aircraft and opt instead for one smaller jet. The move could anger the Queen, who is understood to have been pressing for the new aircraft The Queen would have had priority in using the aircraft. But while she used RAF flights only seven times between 2004 and 2005, Mr Blair used the RAF Queen’s Flight on 677 occasions since 1997.

Nicholas Soames, the Tory MP and a friend of the Prince of Wales, called the decision shameful. He said: “It’s important for the Queen and the dignity of the Royal Family to be transported properly. It’s a very unnecessary and foolish thing to do.”

Mr Fitzpatrick insisted that his department had worked closely with the Royal Household, No 10 and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to reach the decision. He said: “I am today recommending that the needs of the users of this service can best be met through procuring a small aircraft for official travel within the UK, chartered air services for longer journeys involving small parties, and a continuation of existing arrangements with UK airlines for journeys involving large parties. This approach ensures better value for money for the taxpayer whilst also minimising the environmental impact of royal and ministerial air travel, producing an estimated 10 per cent saving on CO2 emissions.”

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