The government has said it will continue to work closely with the Northern Alliance despite an apparent disagreement over the deployment of a ground force.

Speaking after it emerged that Northern Alliance chiefs had blocked the deployment of 6000 British troops on the ground, Number 10 said dialogue would continue.

"There will continue to be consultation with the Northern Alliance. We obviously have contact at very many different levels," said a spokesman. "We will keep in touch with the Northern Alliance before we make the appropriate judgements to meet our objectives."

British officials have denied that the Northern Alliance blocked moves for the deployment of 6000 troops as a "stabilisation force" around Kabul.

"The fact that we shortened the stand-by period was not in itself a deployment," said the spokesman.

However, British officials admitted that the situation in Afghanistan was "fluid" and stressed that initial plans may have to be revised in the light of developments on the ground.

Downing Street has, however, dismissed suggestions of a cooling in relations between the MoD and the Pentagon.

The move came amid claims that the US's overwhelming desire to find Osama bin Laden was hampering the wider military and humanitarian operation in Afghanistan.

The prime minister's spokesman said there was no disagreement, suggesting instead that there had been "dramatic successes" in recent days. "Some people have tried to divide us from the start - and it won't happen," he said.

However, Number 10 conceded that the rapid pace of events had created some problems for the Allied forces. "The problems that we have are good problems - they are not bad problems. They are problems associated with success - not problems associated with failure."

It was announced on Monday that an eight-strong British diplomatic group has arrived in Kabul. Led by British diplomat Stephen Evans, the delegation is made up of officials from the Foreign Office, MoD and the Department for International Development.