The Government placed itself on a collision course with police officers yesterday by announcing that it will not grant their pay award in full.

The Police Federation promised Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, “a fight” after she announced her decision in effect to cut the pay settlement agreed by an arbitration panel.

One chief constable said that police officers, who are forbidden by law from going on strike, would feel cheated by the decision.

The Police Arbitration Tribunal had recommended a 2.5 per cent rise but Ms Smith said that she would delay its implementation from September 1 to December 1, thereby cutting the award to 1.9 per cent.

The Scottish Executive announced that it would honour the arbitration panel’s decision and honour the pay rise in full.

Ms Smith told Radio 4 that she had decided to “stage” the implementation of the award. She added that the real rise would be “just under 2 per cent”, keeping it in line with the Government’s target for inflation.

Jan Berry, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said that her members had been subjected to “disgusting” treatment.

She said: “Compare this to our colleagues in Scotland, who have been informed they will receive the full 2.5 per cent backdated to September 1. Unlike the Home Office, the Scottish administration has acted with honour. and demonstrated they understand the difficulties of modern policing and the restrictions on officers’ lives.

“We are not going to take this lying down. If the Government want a fight, they have got a fight. We are actively pursuing a legal challenge and have requested an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary.”

Michael Fuller, Chief Constable of Kent, said: “I know how strongly my officers feel about this. They quite rightly believed that the increase would be backdated, which is normal practice, and they feel cheated.

“It has had an enormous impact on officers’ morale. They feel deeply aggrieved by this decision and regard it as having set a dangerous precedent that clearly serves to create mistrust.”

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