The plan was unveiled at a meeting in November 2006

A spokesman said unitary status would offer "wide-ranging advantages".

The new council would have 116 members with two councillors representing each of the existing divisions, replacing district and county councillors.

The new authority would also request a formal boundary review in 2009 with a view to "further improving democratic accountability".

The business case will be debated by a special meeting of Somerset County Council on 22 January followed by a vote on the proposal to submit the case to central government.

Cathy Bakewell, council leader, said one council was needed for Somerset to "end the confusion and bureaucracy that hamper all of our efforts to improve services".

Last November, a council meeting in Taunton passed the original motion instructing officers to work on a bid to create a unitary council for the county.