THE footpaths in Bag Lane, Atherton, are being resurfaced -- with horrible, boring, black asphalt. Not a patch on the flags we're used to.

One advantage of the new surface, however, is that the sidewalks won't look like jigsaw puzzles after they have been dug up and replaced several times by the power agencies.

Another is that compensatsion seekers won't be able to claim for falling over raised flagstones.

But the cheap looking replacement is no substitute for the more classic slabs.