Civilian staff protested outside the force's Middlemoor HQ

The decision follows an emergency meeting on Friday of the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority.

It agreed that up to 600 of the 2,300 workers faced with losing money will keep their original wage levels and those offered increases will keep them.

Civilian staff who stood to lose thousands of pounds a year had staged walk outs and threatened to strike.

PR 'disaster'

The force spent �1.5m on a year-long review, which it claims was asked for by members of staff.

But angry staff said they had not been consulted by the force, or by their unions.

One lawyer called it a "public relations disaster" and said the police and unions could have avoided the dispute with proper communication.

There had been protest meetings on Friday after walk-outs on Thursday. The GMB union was threatening to hold a ballot on industrial action.

The changes, which would have left some staff losing �8,000 a year in wages, were due to be introduced in October next year.