Northamptonshire County Council has unveiled plans to cut spending on agency staff and highways services to tackle a £65m funding crisis.

It will also increase council taxes in an attempt to deal with the shortfall.

The 'stabilisation plan' aims to save an extra £20m in 2018-19 on top of £45m in cuts already announced.

Government-appointed commissioners were brought in to oversee the council which has twice banned new spending.

Council leader Matt Golby said the authority faced 'unprecedented times'.

The Conservative-run council is expected to exceed its budget by £30m in 2018-19 as auditors said it was not allowed to use money from the sale of buildings to contribute towards savings.

The authority said reductions of £10m had already been achieved, leaving £20m to be found.

Newly-announced cost-cutting measures include raising £6m by increasing the number of people paying council tax.

There will be reductions in spending on highways and agency staff

Highways spending faces a £350,000 cut this year and a further £150,000 in 2019-20.

At the Conservative Party conference local government secretary James Brokenshire said he recognised 'the concerns and uncertainty' the crisis had created.

He said 'hard calls' and 'difficult decisions' have been made to ensure a 'sustainable future' for the county.