A council mortgage scheme to help first time buyers has been challenged by UKIP.

Essex County Council and district councils including Braintree have signed up to the Local Authority Mortgage Scheme.

Selected first-time buyers will put down a five per cent deposit and the councils will guarantee the remaining 20 per cent.

But the county council’s decision to join as been called-in by the council’s UKIP group, meaning it will now face a scrutiny committee tomorrow.

Roger Lord, UKIP leader at County Hall, said: “The key thing is the local authority has no business to be in the mortgage market - we are not a bank or building society."