A free gardening service for the elderly and disabled faces the axe as part of Oxford City Council's plans to reduce its budget by £6m.

The city council helps to maintain the gardens of 700 council house tenants who are unable to do the work themselves. By dropping the gardening scheme, the council would save £150,000 a year.

But Mary Puffett, 68, of Valentia Road, Headington, told the Oxford Mail that without the help of council workers, her garden would become so overgrown that she would be forced to move.

She is blind in one eye after suffering head injuries in a fall, cannot operate electrical lawnmowers and relies heavily on the council's assistance.

Mrs Puffett said: "I have lived in this house for 63 years and until I became partially sighted a couple of years ago, I was quite happy to do my own garden.

"After that, two men from the council started to come round to help me out and they are ever so friendly. I was very upset when they said they might not be able to come any more if the service is cut.

"I am worried that I might have to move house because I have to look after myself, and my garden would get in such a state."

The review of the gardening service comes as the district auditor issued a report describing the council as one of the worst performing authorities in the country.

The report said between April 2000 and April 2001, the council had performed poorly in income collection, accounting, and other areas. This had left the council struggling to balance income with expenditure.

Cllr David Connett, the executive member for housing, said the gardening scheme, funded by the housing revenue account, could be axed as part of a round of budget cuts.

He said the public was being consulted on the issue before a final decision is taken in the near future.

The council believes the gardening scheme is open to abuse by able-bodied tenants capable of doing their own gardens.

Cllr Connett said recent checks suggested some people had abused the service.

He said: "We do want to provide a scheme for those who really need it.

"There is a gardening service in Wood Farm where the community does contribute to the costs.

"It may be the case that, in future, we still offer the service, with those receiving it asked to pay £4 a visit."

Council leader Corinna Redman said: "It is a question of targeting the help where it is most needed.

"The present scheme is possibly too wide-ranging."

But an undisclosed number of jobs could go to reduce the council's wage bill.

In one of the most controversial proposals, the Northway Sports Centre in Marston is facing closure, as is the Oxford Women's Training Scheme because its annual grant of £250,000 looks likely to be withdrawn.

Renting out Oxford Town Hall is likely to cost the private sector more, but charities and the voluntary sector will still get concessionary rates.

But plans to close the run-down ice rink for a year to save cash have been scrapped.

Once the number of job losses has been decided, a further 60 to 75 redundancies will be sought.

This year, the council agreed to sell property and renegotiate leases to raise £8m. This will help to pay off a deficit of £2.6m, cover redundancy payments, and put the council £2m in credit by April.

But from April, more cutbacks will be sought, including reducing the annual homelessness budget by £1m.

Other possible ways of increasing the council's income include increasing car park and park-and ride- charges.

Other cuts to "non-essential expenditure" include selling the Lord Mayor's personalised number plate (FC1), trimming the parks budget by £300,000, and reducing the number of conferences attended by council staff.