DETECTIVES who made a TV appeal to help solve a 20-year-old murder are sifting through information from viewers, confident that the killer will be brought to justice.

They hope the information wil provide vital clues in the hunt for a killer who strangled to death 14-year-old schoolgirl Lisa Hession.

Officers based at Bolton's Castle Street Police Station are now attempting to link new information with files from the original investigation.

Det Insp Jeff Arnold, who is heading the inquiry, today said he was "hopeful" that new leads from a Crimewatch appeal on Monday night could provide clues to solve the riddle of who killed Lisa.

Lisa was sexually assaulted and strangled before her body was dumped in a back alley yards from her home in Bonnywell Road, Leigh, in 1984.

Det Insp Arnold, who worked on the original inquiry as a trainee detective, made a TV appeal on the show to ask residents in Leigh to remember the night on December 8 that she was attacked.

The studios at the BBC programme received 27 calls in 45 minutes from people with information.

Some were from women who said boyfriends and husbands had been acting strangely at the time.

Det Insp Arnold said: "We didn't get any gold nuggets of information but what we have got is a few leads which we will look at along with the original files.

"This is where the real hard work starts and we won't know for a few weeks how significant this could be."

Det Insp Arnold heads Greater Manchester Police's Bolton-based Cold Case Review Unit which has been set up to probe more than 50 murders dating back up to 50 years.

It is hoped that advances in DNA profiling and investigative techniques could lead police to those responsible for some of the North-west's most brutal murders.

Other murders which are thought to be under the spotlight include the killing of 65-year-old Danny McFadden, who was beaten and set on fire at his Halliwell home in 1998; Shirley Leach, the grandmother who was sexually assaulted, strangled and mutilated at Bury bus interchange in 1994; and the killing of prostitutes Linda Donaldson and Maria Requena, who were butchered by a Ripper-style killer in Leigh and Lowton.

Det Insp Arnold added: "The murder of Lisa Hession was horrendous and demands a re-examination."