Rome's beleaguered mayor, Virginia Raggi, should keep her job, but at the price of dismissing some of her more controversial aides, her anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) decided overnight following a string of scandals.

Over the past week, Raggi's garbage commissioner Paola Muraro resigned after being placed under investigation for breaking waste management rules, and her right-hand man Raffaele Marra, head of personnel at city hall, was arrested for corruption.

"Mistakes were made which Virginia has recognised: She trusted the most unsuitable people in the world. We are changing gear from today," comedian and M5S leader Beppe Grillo wrote on his blog late on Saturday.

In another statement on the blog, Raggi said deputy mayor Daniele Frongia would step down but keep her post as commissioner for sport and youth, while the head of her secretariat, Salvatore Romeo, would quit. Both officials were seen as allies of Marra.

The announcement came after 48 hours of crisis talks in Rome between Grillo and local and national M5S representatives, in which the option of kicking out or suspending Raggi from the party was discussed.

"Grillo has decided to put Virginia Raggi's [administration] under receivership, purging her more trusted men and keeping her under a tight leash," the centre-left La Repubblica newspaper commented on its Sunday front page.

Raggi was elected by a landslide in June on an anti-corruption and transparency ticket, but has since failed to make an impact on the city's problems. Her success was seen as a stepping stone for the M5S to make it into national government.