WEST Dorset Council is being forced to look again at its plans for a "cut price" enhancement scheme at West Bay.

Last month its powerful Executive Committee approved a scaled down regeneration project, despite calls from Bridport town council to find more cash and do the job properly.

But now 11 district councillors - two more than the statutory requirement - have signed a motion requiring the plans to be reconsidered.

It is only the second time such powers have been used in the past two years.

It means that the council's ad hoc committee must now take a fresh look at the £1.25million scheme when it meets next Thursday.

It can either support the Executive's decision or send the plan back to them to reconsider.

News of the "call in" was given to members of the Bridport and West Bay plan sub committee this week.

Leader Charles Wild said the town council had been very clear in its requests after the special meeting in March when district planners outlined their proposals for West Bay.

He said: "The town council declined to choose between the two options presented as alternatives and asked the district council to look again at the costs and the funds available and try to realise the best of both options. "Although at least one press report suggests that the district council has decided on a mix of both options', this is not the case - the Executive has voted clearly for Option Two, which the district council leader and senior officers have favoured since the start of the year, and which the presentation on March 27 was clearly intended to get the town council to agree to."

Coun Wild also complained that his members were still waiting to be told the district council's intentions regarding the proposed sea angling jetty.

He continued: "The town council asked for a clear and unambiguous statement as to whether, if the money can be found, the district council - as the harbour authority - will construct, maintain and manage the sea angling jetty.

"There has been an enormous amount of discussion about this in the press, but we still await that clear and unambiguous statement.

"The town council also proposed a short further consultation on the options to be carried out under the auspices of the Bridport Local Area Partnership rather than by the district council itself. My understanding is that in meetings with local district council members, the Leader of the District Council has rejected that suggestion.

"With so many individual press statements being issued by district council members, it is difficult at this stage to get a clear picture of the district council's position, particularly on the detail of the Option Two scheme, but once we have a formal response, that will be brought to the next practicable meeting of the town council."

Enhancement plans agreed by the Executive committee last month - the basis for Option 2 - included improvements to The Mound buildings, along with a new public open space there, a visitor attraction in the old Methodist chapel, improved traffic management and provision of £100,000 towards a possible sea angling jetty.

* The district council was forced to re think its original regeneration plans - which included a landmark pubic building on The Mound - after the Environment Agency ruled that it was in a major flood risk area and people's lives could be at risk. The subsequent loss of support funding meant that the enhancement project had to be dramatically scaled down.