POLICE are investigating a handwritten sign claiming to name the killer of a schoolgirl stabbed to death in 1993.

On February 3 a News Shopper reporter found the sign next to a plaque in London Road, Greenhithe, where Claire Tiltman was killed aged just 16, yards from her home, in January 1993.

Kent police’s Cold Case Investigation Team is investigating her murder and has retrieved the cardboard sign, which names her alleged killer, the type of car he drove and the company he worked for.

A spokesman said: “The sign has been sent for forensic testing, but it was wet when we retrieved it, so it won’t be easy to get fingerprints.

“There was no CCTV facing the plaque where the sign was placed so we can’t see who left it.

“The name on the sign is not one that had come up in our previous inquiries.

“We are looking into the company named on the sign, which was around in 1993 but no longer exists, to find out the names of people who worked there.”

An officer from the Cold Case team took a statement from the reporter who found the sign.

The reporter also handed over copies of the photos he took of the sign, which was placed among bouquets left on the flower bed above the plaque.

Claire was on her way to see a friend when she was stabbed 40 times and left for dead in an alleyway off London Road.

She lived in Woodward Terrace with her father Cliff and mother Linda, who died of cancer in March 2008.

Mr Tiltman, who still lives in the home he shared with his wife and daughter, says he has no idea who left the sign and has never heard of the man it claims killed Claire.

The 60-year-old said: “I haven’t got my hopes too high it will lead somewhere, because I’ve been disappointed in the past, but you have just got to keep hoping.”

Retired plumber Mr Tiltman praised Kent police and the Cold Case Investigation Team for “never giving up” the investigation.

If you have information which could help, contact the Cold Case Investigation Team on 01634 884048.

Did you see the sign? Do you have information which could help the investigation? Call 01689 885721 or email mpurton@london.newsquest.co.uk