TWO-and-a-half miles from Tycroes to Pantyffynnon - a walk carried out by locals on a regular basis.

Until Thursday, September 27, that is. Because since that fateful morning, when Kelly Hyde made her final walk from Brynteg Garage to Mill Terrace, the only people to repeat the journey are police officers, journalists, a look-alike of the murdered 24-year-old and the victim's faithful dog Scrappy.

Last Thursday - exactly a week after the owner who doted on him had been beaten to death - the whippet again walked the same path where they had met Kelly's murderer.

Except this time, it wasn't a case of an early morning stroll that they had both loved.

Instead, Scrappy's every step was scrutinised by dozens of officers and reporters, who hoped that his obvious discomfort at being without Kelly would at least yield some vital clues leading to her killer being caught.

After a minute's silence at the garage, Kelly's look-alike - a young local girl - walked through Tycroes and into Pantyffynnon before ending up in Mill Terrace, where she was last seen.

But whereas two weeks ago, her presence would have merited nothing more than a passing glance, a week later all neighbours' eyes were fixed on the reconstruction.

After speaking to residents, it became apparent that not only has one life been pointlessly lost and those of Kelly's friends and family forever changed, but things will never be the same in Mill Terrace again.

Not that they were duly concerned about that last Thursday though, when the total focus was on catching Kelly Hyde's killer.