(ANSA) - Palermo, January 7 - Three villas seized from the mafia which Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Sunday said he would personally hand back to the citizens of Palermo are illegal and must be demolished instead, Mayor Leoluca Orlando said Monday.

They are listed for demolition because they are within 150 metres of the coast, he said.

Orlando said either the government or parliament would have to find a solution to enable him to take over the villas, stressing "as things stand we can only demolish them".

