A row has blown up after a council used money intended to help jobs blackspots to fund a horse show.

Blyth Valley Labour MP Ronnie Campbell (pictured) branded the summer event 'a weekend out for toffs'.

He strongly criticised Northumberland County Council - which is in the midst of making budget cuts totalling £40m over two years - for earmarking £80,000 to stage the high-profile equestrian event.

A government minister came under fire from one of her own MPs yesterday for strongly defending the radical shake-up of town halls in Northumberland.

Rosie Winterton says she is confident that local government in Northumberland is "much better placed" under unitary status than it would have been if the old two-tier system of a county and six district councils had remained.

Her comments come in the wake of the newly-established unitary council having to make £26m in budget cuts last year and planning £20m worth of savings this year, with more pain forecast to come in 2011/12.

Parking fees levied on drivers visiting Northumberland towns has emerged as the hottest topic in the initial stages of a major review aimed at developing a county-wide parking strategy.

A progress report on the review reveals hundreds of people have made their views known on whether parking fees should be imposed across the whole county - rather than just in selected towns.

More than 560 people have signed three separate petitions calling for an equal policy across the board, with charges being made in all principal towns.

Families in Northumberland have been spared a 25% increase in the cost of having their garden waste collected this year following a revolt by opposition county councillors.

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.

A political row is brewing over alleged 'empire building' amid moves to set up a formal federation of new grass roots councils in south east Northumberland.

The eight parish and town councils were established last summer to boost local democracy following the abolition of Blyth Valley and Wansbeck district councils, and the creation of a single unitary authority for Northumberland.

Now it is being suggested that the councils - covering Blyth, Ashington, Newbiggin, Cramlington, Seaton Valley and Bedlington North, East and West - should form an official federation with a joint managing board.

People living in Seaton Valley will be funding allotments and lighting, through their council tax this year.

Seaton Valley Council has increased its precept after setting its budget for 2010-11 at £79,422.

It means a slight increase in what the council is asking for as its share of council tax, compared to the current year. However, it will mean that a Band A property will still only pay approximately £11 during 2010-11.

A veteran Labour MP has accused council bosses in Northumberland of seeking the easy way out by targeting elderly and disabled people when making tough budget cuts.

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.

Northumberland County Council will not have to make a further £11m in "horrendous" budget cuts, the Government has said.

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.

Beleaguered council bosses in Northumberland have been left anxiously waiting for a key Government decision on whether they will have to find a further £11m in "horrendous" budget cuts.

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).

A cut-price travel scheme for elderly and disabled people who are too frail to use buses looks set to become a victim of tough council budget cuts in Northumberland.

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.