First-time buyers and those struggling to find a lender willing to help them will be able to turn to Northumberland County Council for help.

Councillors on the county's executive board will be asked to agree to the £3m deal next week. The money will come from council borrowing.

The council has agreed to peg the annual charge for the collection service at £20 this year, after a move to increase it by 25% was rejected by opposition councillors.

People who pay for the service get their grass, leaves, hedge and tree cuttings and other garden materials picked up from the kerbside every other week during the growing season. The waste is then converted into compost or soil improver.

The 11th-hour package of concessions by County Hall leaders enabled the unitary authority to finally agree its 2010/11 budget plans, with just four days to spare.

The agreement averted the risk of the council failing to set a legal budget in the required timescale, and the threat of Government-appointed commissioners being sent in to do the job.

The minority Liberal Democrat administration at County Hall will now have to come up with a revised package of proposals after its plans to make £21.5m in savings to balance the books failed to win the support of Conservative and Labour opponents.

Opposition councillors were accused of "political grandstanding" at a meeting of the full council in Morpeth, which had been called to approve this year's budget following months of detailed consultations.

It was planned to put up the annual charge for the service from £20 to £25 in March - to bring in an extra £60,000 and help the county council achieve tough budget savings.

Now the saving will have to be found elsewhere after Conservative and Labour councillors joined forces to defeat the move at a meeting in County Hall on Wednesday.

Blyth Valley MP Ronnie Campbell is writing to Liberal Democrat leaders at County Hall and asking them to "stop hitting" the elderly population of the county.

He says the recent announcement the council is axing a scheme which provides cut-price taxi travel for hundreds of pensioners who are unable to use buses is the latest in a damaging series of cost-cutting measures affecting older people.

It was feared that around £30m worth of savings would be required to balance next year's budget but the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has allowed councillors to pay for some costs from the capital budget.

The authority had submitted four bids for capitalisation in respect of potential losses on Icelandic investments of £9.1m, for £6m in strain on the pension fund, £2.8m for enhanced redundancy and £1.4m for statutory redundancy.

County council leaders expected to be told yesterday whether ministers will allow them to use a financial loophole to avoid having to make almost £30m in savings this year.

But last night - as the authority revealed it has dropped plans to close a number of tourist information centres in Northumberland - there had still been no decision from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

More than 800 vulnerable pensioners across the county use the scheme, which allows them concessionary travel in taxis because they are unable to use other forms of public transport.

They use council-issued vouchers, tokens or passes to pay for taxi trips to the shops, GP and hospital appointments or to visit relatives and friends.

Cash-strapped Northumberland County Council - which is having to make budget cuts of up to £50m over two years - is thinking of using its capital resources to help would-be home buyers who are being frustrated by the continued squeeze on lending.

A report is being prepared for the Liberal Democrat executive in March on the possibility of the authority giving mortgages "in certain circumstances" to applicants unable to secure a loan from commercial lenders.

The Liberal Democrat administration at County Hall has drawn up the revised savings for 2010/11 after carrying out public consultations on initial £16m proposals published in November.

They will be discussed by the executive next week - and are based on the assumption the Government will allow the council to capitalise its £10m redundancy costs this year, cushioning the impact on the revenue budget.

Political opponents on the county council have clashed over a demand for a better system of repairs and maintenance - amid claims that 'small craters' have appeared on some roads which are both dangerous and potentially damaging.

Conservative councillors are calling on the Liberal Democrat administration to urgently bring in an improved system for looking after roads, pavements and bridges - and have condemned what they say is the current 'muddle through' approach.

Snow has not fully thawed in all parts of the county following last week's downfall and some areas were hit again on Wednesday night.

Predictions for the county on Saturday are for heavy rain and temperatures of between three and five degrees celsius.

Northumberland County Council is trying to get back to a normal bin collection routine.

A spokeswoman said: "There has inevitably been disruption to the bin collection service in Northumberland due to the recent winter weather conditions - particularly in the more rural areas of the county.

"The council is asking residents to refer to the normal collection timetable for their area, and place the correct coloured bin out on the next scheduled collection day. Where a bin has been missed the council will collect additional bags of waste on the next visit.

More than 1,600 county council workers faced the prospect of not having their wages increased this year to help the unitary authority save more than £1m.

The proposed freeze on pay increments - which sparked the threat of a ballot and possible industrial action by public sector unions - would have affected many low-paid employees such as refuse collectors, road workers and kitchen staff.