THE last photograph of murdered prostitute Danielle Moorcroft, right -- a picture captured just four hours before her battered body was disovered - has been released

Detectives trawling through hours of CCTV security camera footage came across this image of Danielle walking across a petrol station forecourt in Bridgeman Place at 1.40am on Saturday, June 1.

A few frames later a dark coloured saloon is seen on the forecourt.

Detectives believe it could be the same car a witness said they saw Danielle getting into on the slip road leading to Trinity Way Retail Park shortly afterwards.

They have now sent the images away to be digitally enhanced by specialists in the hope that it could reveal a number plate or the face of a murder suspect.

Danielle was found dead at the back of Bolton Community College off Lower Bridgeman Street.

On that night, she was wearing an off-the-shoulder pink nylon top, black trousers and Lacoste trainers and was carrying a blue roll-neck jumper.

Speaking about the CCTCV images, Det Supt Patsy Wood, who is leading the murder investigation, said: "This is an extremely significant discovery within the investigation and we're currently having the footage enhanced in an attempt to identify the car and its driver.

"This CCTV footage ties in with information from a witness that Danielle was last seen getting into a large dark car driven by a man between 1.00am and 1.30am on the Saturday morning on the slip road leading to Trinity Way Retail Park, near to Burger King and Toys 'R' Us."

She said that the footage had only just come to light because of the masses of CCTV film gathered and the difficult nature of it.

"We still have many hours of footage left to view which is a slow and painstaking process but due to the team's dedication we are confident that we are moving closer to finding our killer," she said.

Anyone with information about the new evidence or any other information relating to the murder should contact the incident room at Castle Street Police Station on 0161 856 5961.

Or ring Crimestoppers anonymously 0880 555 111.