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.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has put forward the investment in the form of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

Northumberland's £7.5m allocation will be used to develop fire stations in Prudhoe, Haltwhistle and Seahouses.

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.

Since December, villages and estates have been badly affected by the freezing weather, which has seen much of the North East blanketed by snow.

But as the ice thaws and roads clear many residents are turning their attention away from the weather and wondering why they're still being left out in the cold by the postal service and refuse collectors.

Northumberland County Council's day care centres at Dene Park House in Hexham and Greenholme in Haltwhistle are to close and personalised budgets for users to spend on their preferred method of care will be introduced.

And the council took a group of users from the centres on a taster day to the Houghton Hall garden centre in Carlisle on sample a day trip - one of the options available as an alternative to building-based care.

The Conservative group, the main opposition at the county council, tabled a shadow budget for 2010/11 in response to the Liberal Democrat administration's recently released set of savings proposals which envisages cuts of £15.7m.

The Tories announced they would reduce bureaucracy and radically reform County Hall. By doing so they hope to make savings of at least £9m, compared to the Lib Dems' £3m.