Gordon Brown has blocked General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the army, from being promoted to lead the armed forces because of his repeated calls for better pay and conditions for servicemen, senior Whitehall sources have disclosed.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the current chief of the defence staff, will now have his tenure extended for a year, ensuring there is no vacancy for Dannatt before his retirement.

Despite repeated attempts to rein him in, the general complained 10 days ago that troops fighting in Afghanistan are paid less than traffic wardens while their families in Britain are living in “appalling” housing. The criticisms forced Brown to say he would look again at forces’ pay.

“It was Gordon’s decision,” said one Whitehall source. “Dannatt has made a lot of enemies among the senior reaches of the Labour party.

“They want him gone sooner rather than later.”

Dannatt was appointed chief of the general staff in August 2006, so his standard three-year stint in charge of the army will end in August next year. Stirrup was due to leave next April before the order came to extend his term for a year.

An alternative was to promote Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy to the top post next April, but that is seen as unlikely. Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, the first sea lord, has also spoken out over cuts to the navy’s ships, warning that “if [the fleet] turns into the Belgian navy, then I’m gone”, so is not seen as an option.

There have been suggestions that Stirrup is fed up with inter-service bickering over the increasingly stretched defence budget and is looking for a post in industry.

Ministry of Defence officials, however, want Stirrup to stay on so that all the current service chiefs have been replaced by the time he has finished his term.

“By cleaning house and putting a new team under Stirrup, the PM gets a new group of senior officers who will be too busy trying to climb the greasy pole to rock the boat,” said one senior army officer.

Dannatt has expressed concern that underfunding and the two continuing operations will “break the army”. Nearly 1,500 officers left in the 12 months to April, 50% more than joined. Those leaving included Lieutenant Colonel Rick Williams, commanding officer of the SAS, and Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal, who had just returned from commanding 3rd battalion, the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan. They were followed by Brigadier Ed Butler, who left after being passed over for the post of director of special forces after criticism of Whitehall.

Dannatt has caused problems for government from the start. Within weeks of taking over, he said that British troops needed to leave Iraq “sometime soon” because their presence was exac-erbating the situation. Although Blair publicly backed Dannatt’s comments, privately cabinet ministers were furious.

“It is not his job to criticise government policy,” one said. “He needs to get back in his box and shut up. His next mistake will be his last.”

Dannatt, however, continued to lobby hard for better funding for troops, whom he described as being “devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue”.

Even before these comments, there were suggestions that Dannatt might be forced to retire a year early this August, but that was deemed too obvious.

Recently Dannatt complained, about the poor money paid to soldiers fighting the Taliban. That forced Brown to say ministers would “do everything in our power . . . to try to reward our armed forces for the dedication and commitment they show”.

He is expected to be succeeded by General Sir David Richards, the head of land command.

The MoD said: “No firm decisions have been made on the end date for the chief of defence staff, so it would not be appropriate to comment.”

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