Police have traced and interviewed the man named as the alleged killer of a schoolgirl murdered 17 years ago.

The man has been helping detectives with their inquiries after his name was found on a cardboard sign at a memorial site to teenager Claire Tiltman.

The handwritten note, left among flowers and a plaque dedicated to the 16-year-old, close to where she was stabbed to death in 1993, names the alleged murderer, the type of car he drove and the company he worked for.

Kent Police’s cold case investigation team, which looks into unsolved crimes, has sent the note for forensic tests, but no arrests have been made.

The spokesman said: “The person named within the information is fully co-operating with the investigation as inquiries continue.”

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, Greenhithe, just yards from her home in Woodward Terrace.

Several suspects have been linked with the teenager’s death - Kent Police’s biggest unsolved case - but all previous leads have been discounted, a police spokesman said.

Cliff Tiltman, 60, has said he is not getting his hopes up until he can see someone standing in the dock at court charged with his daughter’s murder.

The retired plumber, who lost wife Linda to throat cancer in March 2008, said: “I’ve never given up hope. Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing them banged up.”