Police in Bradford and West Yorkshire will join a demonstration in London tomorrow in protest at the latest Government pay offer.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has offered a staged pay increase of 2.5 per cent, which the Police Feder-ation, the organisation which represents rank-and-file officers, has condemned as "ludicrous".

Tom McGhie, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, said: "Officers are disgusted the Home Secretary chose to ignore the decision of the arbitration tribunal.

"The Federation went into the tribunal knowing its decision was binding but the Home Secretary has ignored this.

"West Yorkshire officers will attend the rally at Westminster to make sure the Government knows of their views on this issue.

"Police officers do not have the right to strike, which limits our options. This is something else we believe should be taken into account.

"Many officers are starting to ask whether the ban on industrial action should remain. The police and the Army always seem to be the Government's last resource when things go wrong."

Yesterday also saw the publication of a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) which suggested automatic pay increases based on length of service should be scrapped in favour of performance-related pay.

IPPR spokesman Guy Lodge said: "We all know the police do a difficult and challenging job, but no system of pay is fair that rewards people solely on the basis of time served rather than their ability to do the job effectively.

"You could have a system whereby detection levels and those sorts of things are part of a police pay system."

Mr McGhie condemned the report as a "cynical piece of spin".

He said: "The timing of this statement suggests it is a desperate bid to deflect attention from the issue. The fact is the Home Secretary ignored the arbitration tribunal ruling and announced a ludicrous pay offer. I believe that is why this statement has been released now."

The Police Federation is demanding a non-staged deal of at least 2.5 per cent backdated to September 1, 2007. The proposed offer by the Government would only amount to 1.9 per cent this year, the federation argues.