The Treasury is blocking the army’s attempts to replace its lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers with safer vehicles, senior defence sources said last week.

No extra funding for the vehicles will be provided by the Treasury, leaving the Ministry of Defence (MoD) struggling to fund the vehicles from its overstretched budget.

The attempts to buy a better protected vehicle that matches the Snatch Land Rover’s mobility come as relatives of some of the 30 soldiers killed in Land Rovers in Iraq and Afghanistan take the MoD to court for allegedly failing to protect them.

MoD surveys have found that half the armed forces believe the government is not equipping them adequately. Many are leaving as a result.

In an attempt to head off criticism Des Browne, the defence secretary, will announce tomorrow that Snatch Land Rovers will be upgraded with additional armour. The improved vehicle will be known as the Snatch Vixen. Plans to announce a new vehicle have had to be put on hold.

Officials said details of the new improved vehicle were not finalised in time. They denied that additional funding for the vehicle had been refused.

Defence sources said the Treasury had indicated it was not prepared to foot the £100m bill. More heavily armoured vehicles are being introduced but none has the manoeuvrability of the Snatch Land Rover.

Phillip Hewett, 21, was killed with two other soldiers when a roadside bomb destroyed their Snatch Land Rover in Amarah, Iraq, in July 2005. Sue Smith, his mother, is one of the relatives suing the MoD. “I think it’s disgusting. I know Phillip’s dead. I know it’s not going to bring him back, but I don’t think it’s acceptable for it to be continuing to happen. We are supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world yet we can’t afford to equip our army properly,” she said.

Roger Bacon’s 34-year-old-son Matthew, an Intelligence Corps major, died when his Land Rover was destroyed by a roadside bomb in Basra in 2005.“It is absolutely ridiculous,” Bacon said.“The defence budget has got nothing in it. The root of all this is money.”

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