A police award dedicated to the memory of schoolgirl Claire Tiltman has been presented in recognition of an officer's outstanding work with vulnerable victims and witnesses.

The inaugural Claire Tiltman Investigative Award was named after the teenager from Greenhithe and handed to Det Con Shelley Rainer during Kent Police's annual awards ceremony.

The decision to honour the 16-year-old was made after the conviction of her murderer Colin Ash-Smith in December 2014.

Claire was brutally stabbed to death in a frenzied knife attack in an alleyway off London Road, Greenhithe, by Ash-Smith in January 1993.

The Dartford Grammar pupil was on her way to visit a friend when she was ambushed by the former milkman from Swanscombe.

Although he was a prime suspect, and eventually jailed for life for two other similar attacks on lone women in 1988 and 1995, Ash-Smith was not formally charged until February 2014 after a cold case review by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

He denied murder but was convicted and jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 21 years.

Several awards were presented during the ceremony in Maidstone and Det Con Rainer was praised for her innate ability to engage with vulnerable victims and witnesses.

In the past year she has worked on some highly complex and distressing cases but persuaded vulnerable victims and witnesses to give evidence at court and supported them throughout the case in the pursuit of justice.

Kent's chief constable Alan Pughsley said: "This was a fantastic occasion, and an opportunity to celebrate the best of policing in Kent.

"The contributions that these officers and staff have made are wide-ranging; from protecting children and supporting vulnerable victims, to taking dangerous criminals off the streets and promoting their communities.

"No matter how different the act, each person has been praised for the contribution they have made to making Kent a safer and better place to live."

Officers involved in the hunt for Claire's killer, one of Kent's biggest murder investigations, were also at the ceremony. Other guests included several of the teenager's childhood friends who mounted the Justice for Claire campaign in memory of her parents Linda and Cliff who both sadly died before her killer was charged and convicted.

Joanne Roberts, from Gravesend, said on their behalf that Tilt, as they affectionately nicknamed her, would have made a difference to people's lives if her own had not been cut so dramatically short and she had gone on to fulfill her ambition of becoming a firefighter.

The 39-year-old added that the award was therefore a wonderful tribute.

"To have an award to mark this same quality in an officer that has made a real difference really does make us very happy, and proud," she added.

Last year, Ash-Smith, now aged 47, saw his appeal bid rejected by three of the country's top judges. He will therefore not be eligible for parole for another 20 years and could effectively spend the rest of his life behind bars.