The way election organising is paid for is "not fit for purpose", according to new research.

The Electoral Commission has called for a radical shake-up of the way elections are funded in order to meet the challenges of regional polls and referendums.

The watchdog is calling for all core electoral services to be funded centrally.

Electoral registration alone costs £72 million-a-year with election management costing taxpayers £50 million at the last general election.

The commission warned that funding is inconsistent in different parts of the UK and continuing with local autonomy will not help improve standards in training, IT and promotional activities.

The chairman of the commission, Sam Younger, said: "The commission's review has identified a dangerous dependency on goodwill at the heart of our electoral system.

"We want to ensure that the funding basis for electoral services is robust enough to withstand a future of change and modernisation both in the way we vote and the likely increase in elections and referendums."