PROPERTIES in Marine Parade, Lyme Regis, that were boarded up after a landslip in 2001 have been bought by West Dorset District Council for an undisclosed sum. A district council spokesman said this week that the two properties - the old Polly Victoria tea rooms and a residential property to the rear - were required "in connection with the pro posed coastal protection scheme," due to start next April. No details about whether the properties will stay are currently available. The district council sparked an outcry three years ago when the owners of the two neighbouring properties on Marine Parade were forced to leave their homes and busi nesses after cracks appeared. West Dorset District Council evacuated the properties under little-known public health act powers to ensure the public's safety. They ordered them out, erected scaffolding and boarded up the properties, which the owners claimed were then worthless. The owners then received demands for almost £34,000 from the district council and were told that the bill was increasing by £175 every week to pay for scaffolding. A residents' association, SLIP (Save Lyme's Interests Party), was set up, led by the late Michael Dixon, who fought to have the legislation changed. But it was not clear this week how much the owners were paid for their properties, or whether they ever had to pay the sums that had been demanded by the district council. A district council spokesman said: "The council treats financial dealings with third parties as confidential. However, the properties were bought at open market value for use in the engineering works and do not form part of any compensation package." He added: "The council always tries to be as open as possible, however, under the Data Protection Act it cannot release private financial details about other people or organisations. "In this case it would be inappropriate to disclose the financial information regard ing the property on Marine Parade in Lyme Regis."