A CAMPAIGN to scrap council tax across Redbridge has been launched by the Lib Dem group.

Calling the tax "unfair and unpopular", the group aims to replace it with local income tax, which they claim would be a fairer system for residents.

The scheme would link the amount of tax people pay to their income, a system Lib Dems claim would be cheaper to operate.

At a pre-council meeting on Monday, Lib Dem group leader Cllr Hugh Cleaver said: "Council tax is now the most unpopular tax in Britain, because it's the most unfair tax.

"Not only do council tax payers condemn the system, so did the Audit Commission, which has described it as fundamentally flawed.

"The Lib Dems have a carefully costed alternative, local income tax. The system is fairer as it relates the amount of tax people pay to their income. It's cheaper to operate and will save half the costs spent by councils to administer their systems."

Mr Cleaver said the party would allocate £1.7billion from proceeds of its proposed 50 pence income tax on incomes above £100,000 to subsidise councils.

He said: "This would keep the local income tax for those who paid it down to 3.75 per cent. It would mean savings particularly for most pensioners and the lowest paid."