A handful of police authorities that had sought big increases in funding will today be capped by the government in a move that threatens to escalate tensions between the two sides.

Police leaders are still smarting over the government's failure to compromise over the 2008 2 per cent pay award for officers. Lincolnshire, Cheshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Surrey are among the forces likely to be capped by the Department for Local Government and Communities. Police authorities receive part of their funding, about 21.5 per cent, via council tax bills, typically about 10 per cent of the levy. The authorities in question have lifted this funding by much more than the 5 per cent recommended by the government.