Couples will be able to divorce online after a pilot scheme on an official Government website proved a success.

Officials said more than 1,000 petitions have been issued during a testing phase of the paperless system, and nine in 10 people were 'satisfied'.

The system allows couples to terminate their marriage for £550 and upload official documents online.

A spokeswoman said during tests fewer people had made mistakes when filling out forms.

Couples will be able to divorce online after a pilot scheme on an official Government website proved a success with nine in ten saying they were 'satisfied'

Court staff currently spend 13,000 hours dealing with complex paper divorce forms, but a 'simpler and less technical' online service has already contributed to a 95 per cent drop in the number of applications being returned because of mistakes, she said.

'This means only 0.6 per cent of forms have been rejected since January.'

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer added: 'Allowing divorce applications to be made online will help make sure we are best supporting people going through an often difficult and painful time.

'More people will have the option of moving from paper-based processes to online systems which will cut waste, speed up services which can be safely expedited, and otherwise better fit with modern day life.'

Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division of the High Court and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales, says the online pilot scheme had been a 'triumphant success'. He said, in a lecture, that an online system 'must be the way of the future'.

Officials say the new online divorce application system is part of a £1 billion programme which aims to 'transform' the court system and make it more accessible and easier to use.