Kent Police warned ministers that frontline services would have to be cut if the Government refused to reimburse the full costs of dealing with the Kingsnorth climate camp protest in the summer, it has emerged.

Kent Police was given a special grant of £3.2million to help cover the £5.7milllion costs.

But correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act to the KM Group reveals both Chief Constable Mike Fuller and Ann Barnes, the chairman of the Kent Police Authority, told ministers that the £2.5million shortfall would mean cuts in other services.

The correspondence reveals Kent Police unsuccessfully appealed to the Home Office for more money and had argued it was unfair for the county’s force to pick up the tab for a national operation.

In a letter to Home Office minister Tony McCulty in September, Mr Fuller asked the Government to reconsider its decision. He pointed out the force’s budget was already under pressure because of the amount spent on £53million Tonbridge robbery investigation and it would be unfair for it to bear the costs of a second national event.

The letter states: “Kent Police have fully committed the resources to meet its challenging polcing plan target and it it were not supported by the Home Office, will have to reduce services to the public in order to cover the costs incurred.”

Mr Fuller wrote a second letter a week later, setting out in more detail why the operation was a national event and asking for more money and for the Home Office to reconsider.

But the minister declined to do so, saying that while he understood the force’s concerns he had reached his decision by applying “the normal special grant criteria.”

Chairman Ann Barnes also wrote to ask for a rethink. In her letter to the minister, she said it was “extremely unfair” for taxpayers in Kent and Medway to “pick up a £2.5million of the bill for a national event not of their wish or making”.

The letter went on: “The inevitable consequence of this will be a delay in rolling out our Neighbourhood Task Teams, which have been extremely effective in harvesting the benefits of Neighbourhood Policing, which is both a national and local priority”.

In a statement, Kent Police said: “Kent Police and Kent Police Authority have contacted the Home Office to negotiate a rebate towards the costs of policing the climate camp protests.”

Six thousand sunscreen wipes and 10,000 mosquito wipes that together cost £3,400 were among items Kent Police incorporated into its initial estimate for policing the Kingsnorth climate camp.

By far the greatest sum was needed to accommodate the hundreds of additional police officers brought in from outside Kent to help police the camp.

According to data provided by the Home Office under the Freedom of Information Act, Kent Police budgeted for about £336,000 on accommodation costs. This sum included £52,000 at the Holiday Inn and £33,659 on rooms at the Bridgewood Manor Hotel. Most officers were accommodated at the University of Kent campus.

The breakdown of the budget also reveals that the police spent £25 on a book called The Rights Of Way Guide to Law and Practice and £197 on T-shirts, jogging bottoms and plimsoles, though the reason is unspecified.

It also budgeted for £680 for four office chairs with lumbar support and £2,587 on 300 map books of east and west Kent.

A further £3,192 was set aside for ear plugs. Some £12,000 was earmarked for 36,000 bottles of water.

The use of the Essex force police helicopter was estimated at £30,000.