IT is the design classic that just will not die. Eleven years after Britain's distinctive red telephone boxes started being replaced by the modern stainless steel booths, a new generation of box harks back to the 1930s design much loved by the British and tourists alike.

After researching the views of thousands of customers, British Telecommunications plc (BT), the privatised utility that owns the boxes, unveiled a "a new look" this week comprising a bold red trim and the familiar curved roof.

But BT, which over the last decade has received appeals from country villages and even the London Borough of Westminster to preserve some of the old red phone boxes, insists this is no stylistic climb-down.

"They incorporate the best features of both the old and the current boxes. They have wider access and they are easier to clean," a BT spokesman said.

The company already has some of the old classics saved at a heritage site. Called the BT Phone Home, perhaps?