Council leaders have damned a list of recommendations to help cut council tax published by think tank the TaxPayer's Alliance (TPA).

Among a list of 201 suggestions, councils were told to consider the worth of forming unitary authorities, merge finance director and chief executive roles, and forgo automatic pay rises.

Efficiencies could be achieved by cutting spending on disabled and elderly residents and using local livestock to graze on council land rather than spending money on grass maintenance, local authorities were told.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: ‘The TPA seems to have lost its bearings. This is a list of things councils have been doing for years peppered with a number of frankly ridiculous ideas, some of which are downright dangerous.

‘Councils are getting on with the serious business of saving money through sensible, well thought-through reforms which will keep council tax low and go some way to protecting local services from the 43% cut in funding from central government.'

Communities secretary Eric Pickles urged council leaders to learn from the report, which recommends an end to free meals for councillors.

‘This report exposes how there is still massive waste in the public sector,' Pickles said.

‘Councils which complain about so-called cuts need to read through this report and justify their spending to local taxpayers. Central government could learn many a practical tip from this too.'

Political director of the TPA, Jonathan Isaby, said: ‘Any civic leader claiming that raising the council tax is their only option had better be able to prove that they have implemented or at least considered implementing every single idea we are putting before them today.

‘If not, they won't be able to look their residents in the eye and insist that they have exhausted the possibilities for saving money'