LONDON - The government's decision to stagger the pay rise of thousands of police officers was damaging morale and would lead to mass resignations from regional forces, MPs told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

As pressure mounted on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to back down on the controversial plans, the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee was told the bitter pay dispute was destroying police confidence and had sparked widespread unrest.

More than 140,000 officers from across the country will be balloted on Wednesday over whether they should have the right to strike, their union, the Police Federation has said.

Despite police being banned from striking under laws introduced in the mid 1990s, the Federation wants to explore the idea of officers being able to walk off the job -- a claim that Smith said she did not believe officers wanted.

Smith announced last week that officers would receive the 2.5 percent increased offer set by the independent Police Arbitration Tribunal in stages.

However Smith decided it would be paid in December, rather than backdated to September, as expected.

Police claim this cuts the rise to 1.9 per cent, which is less than the rate of inflation, which will save the government an estimated 30 million pounds.

Smith refused requests from MPs on the committee to reconsider her decision after the hearing was told that members of her own party had privately raised concerns.

She admitted it was the first time that a Home Secretary had decided to stage pay rises but argued it balanced police needs with sensible government spending and would keep down inflation and interest rates.

She also rejected claims from committee members, Liberal Democrat Bob Russell and Labour backbench MP Martin Salter, that she was "destroying" morale or creating a recruitment crisis.

"I do not underestimate their concern about this pay award but I do not believe, from my experience of police officers, that they want to take the right to strike," she said.

"I take seriously my responsibility to ensure that I put in place arrangements that are fair, but also are affordable, for the police service and the taxpayer."

However the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Ken Jones, said officers were angry because many felt the government was taking advantage of laws banning police from striking.

"We feel that the results of (the arbitration) were fair and justifiable and should have been paid in full from September 1, not staged," he told the committee. "I would not underestimate the tensions and feelings, in terms of people feeling let down."

He agreed it would cause recruitment problems.