The council tax is set to be scrapped in its present form within four years, reports today's Times.

Following a number of complaints against rising local authority bills, the current system of eight tax bands applicable to the whole country will be replaced by a scheme under which the bands are set regionally to reflect local property values.

A new top band for the most expensive properties and a new lower band for cheap homes is also expected.

"We recognise the problems and unfairness within the existing council tax system and indeed set up our balance of funding review specifically to address these and explore improvements," said local government minister Nick Raynsford.

"But as the sad history of bodged reform such as the poll tax tells us, it is very dangerous in this complex field to seek over-simplistic solutions and to promise painless reform."