POLICE union chiefs are attending an emergency meeting in London today to discuss the recent pay rise row.

Representatives from the London-wide Metropolitan Police Federation will travel up from offices in Bromley to attend today’s Police Federation crisis summit with officers from the other 42 forces in England and Wales.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is coming under increasing pressure from police over her decision not to backdate a two and half per cent pay rise. The Police Federation, which represents 140,000 officers throughout England and Wales, says it is disappointed by this decision which will result in a pay increase of only 1.9 per cent, below the rate of inflation.

Sir Ian Blair expressed his concern over Jacqui Smith's pay rise decision. He said: "I fully recognise that policy over public sector pay is a matter for government. However, I have previously expressed my concern to ministers that pay policy for the police service must take account of the special circumstances of police officers, particularly their almost unique inability to take industrial action and I am therefore disappointed by the decision."

The police are legally forbidden from taking strike action, although some Federation members are calling for a ballot to demand the ban is removed.

A Bromley police spokesman said: “It does affect all the officers but there’s been no talk of a strike. It’s not something that’s impacting on day to day stuff, but it is something everyone is aware of.”

The Met Police Federation in Elmfield Park, Bromley, has received angry messages from its members. It is calling for a joint response to this pay debacle which is “emphatic and effective”.