Figures have revealed that dozens of Watford residents attempted to challenge their council tax bills last year.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) – which gives the Government property valuations and advice – received 50 challenges from Watford residents over their council tax bill in 2020-21 – though this was down from 60 the year before.

Think tank Bright Blue said a rise in the proportion of successful challenges across England shows that the country's tax system has "long passed its sell-by date".

Of the 40 challenges which were resolved last year, 10 (25%) resulted in the occupier's council tax bill decreasing, and 30 in no change – though some of these may have been submitted in previous years.

All homes are given a council tax valuation band by the VOA based on its value in April 1991 – these range from the cheapest band A to the most expensive band H, with band D the most common.

Bright Blue said the rise in successful challenges is evidence that England's domestic property tax system is out of date.

Communications officer at the think tank Joseph Silke said: “The banding system devised three decades ago disproportionately burdens those with more modest means.

“If the Government wants to level up, council tax and stamp duty should be entirely replaced with a fairer annual proportional property tax.”

The Institute of Economics Affairs said the council tax system is too vulnerable to "arbitrary" challenges by individual households which can affect a lot of people.

IEA chief operating officer Andy Mayer said: "Often one person’s appeal triggers the revaluation of a whole group of homes, leading to further appeals.

"Pandemic restrictions have made this more difficult, leading to a backlog of cases.

"At some point the whole system will need to be rebooted, and potentially replaced."

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it has no plans to reform council tax.

An MHCLG spokeswoman added: “We are providing councils with £670 million of new grant funding to enable them to continue reducing council tax bills this year for those least able to pay.

“We have allocated over £12 billion directly to councils in England since the start of the pandemic and we continue to keep the position of councils under close review.”