Bob Quick said pay negotiations warranted sensitivity and fairness

Chief Constable Bob Quick said they "put their lives on the line" and deserved better.

His comments came before the Police Federation said that every officer was to be balloted over whether they wanted to lobby for the right to strike.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith decided not to backdate a 2.5% pay rise for police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The police say that because the 2.5% rise has been staggered to start in December, this year it will amount in real terms to 1.9%.

'Destabilise relations'

Chief Constable Bob Quick said: "This action will needlessly destabilise industrial relations within the Police Service at a time when we can least afford it.

"Police officers have absorbed unprecedented levels of additional work in recent years with new threats that have had to be contained, and ever increasing demands from the government, communities and society as a whole.

He added: "Police officers are asked to put their lives on the line every day.

"Last Saturday in Surrey a Constable saved a man from drowning in the river at Chertsey by jumping into the freezing water and battling the strong currents to tow him to safety.

"This typifies the risks borne by police officers every day and the potential sacrifices to their own safety they are regularly called upon to make in protecting the public."

"This, and the absence of the right to withdraw labour, warrants sensitivity and fairness in dealing with negotiations around their pay and conditions," Mr Quick said.

The Police Federation said every police officer in the UK was to be balloted over whether they want to lobby for the right to strike.

Officers also passed a vote of no confidence in Ms Smith over her ability to deal with their pay and conditions at a meeting over the pay row on Wednesday.

Ms Smith is determined that the current pay deal should fall within public sector inflation targets, but she did not believe most officers wanted the right to strike.