Thousands of police march over pay

An estimated 25,000 off-duty police officers took to the capital's streets - about one in six of the total number in the country - to deliver a stark message to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The unprecedented day of action organised by the Police Federation saw Westminster and Whitehall brought to a halt in protest over Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's decision to delay a 2.5% pay rise.

Mr Brown said the decision was necessary as part of the "fight against inflation". But he was accused of reneging on an arbitrated pay award, while Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg told a mass rally that officers had been treated with contempt.

One protester, Pc Michael Ramsden of Thames Valley Police, said: "I feel we have been lied to."

Marchers were heckled and jeered by a small group of anarchist counter-protesters. One woman - thought to be a counter-protester - was arrested for a public order offence.

Former Labour MP Tony Benn, who joined the police marchers, said: "They are going to win this. It's clear that this is driven by Gordon Brown telling Jacqui Smith what to do." And Mr Benn insisted there was no contradiction in the police staging a protest march, when they have been criticised in the past for the way they have policed other demonstrations, particularly the miners' strike in the 1980s.

Officers claim that because their pay increase was backdated to December 1 instead of September 1, it is effectively only a 1.9% increase. The Police Federation said it had applied for judicial review of the decision.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The Home Secretary has already begun discussions with the Police Federation about future police settlements and will be meeting with them later today to discuss a multi-year pay deal."

A Police Federation spokesman said the event was the largest gathering of police officers in the country's history. A previous rally over police reforms staged at Wembley in 1993 attracted about 20,000 people, he said.