Detectives hunting the killer of Mary Gregson have received 30 calls from members of the public naming several new suspects.

A reconstruction of the Shipley housewife's last steps before her murder in 1977 was featured on the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme last night.

And despite it being one of the oldest unsolved cases taken up by the programme, the renewed appeal for information drew a positive response from across the country.

The man leading the investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Taylor, said he was extremely encouraged by the reaction because it proved people were still thinking about the case 23 years on.

"We had an immediate response with 30 calls made to the studio and Shipley incident room," he said.

"Some of the information confirmed what we already know, but there were also several new names suggested as possible suspects.

"Our task now is to work through that new information while continuing to eliminate people from the original list of 9,000 suspects drawn up in the 1970s."

The murder case was re-opened in September last year after advanced DNA techniques gave police a genetic profile of the killer.

Detectives have already used the new technology to eliminate more than 400 people from the original list of suspects.

The profile has also been matched against the 750,000 convicted criminals that are listed on the national DNA database, including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

Mrs Gregson, 38, was sexually assaulted and strangled as she walked to Salts Mill along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal towpath on August 30, 1977.

Her body was found the next morning in the River Aire a few hundred yards from her home in Jane Hills.

Anyone with information about the murder can contact the Shipley incident room on (01274) 537422 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

New hope in baby kidnap

A Crimewatch update on the abduction of Bradford toddler Daniel Grimshaw also prompted a flood of calls.

More than 50 people rang in to offer new information about hotel toiletries recovered in connection with the inquiry.

Senior investigating officer, Chief Superintendent Stuart Hyde, said there were several suggestions of hotels where the sample-size Bienvenue, Paris toiletries may have come from. The soap, shampoo and bubble bath were recovered from a woman in the Bradford area who has since been interviewed by police.

Detectives have also released an e-fit of a woman they believe shared a British hotel room with 16-month-old Daniel after he was snatched from his pram in Wrose, Bradford in November. His family has offered a £5,000 reward for his safe return.

Anyone with information can speak to police at Eccleshill in confidence on Bradford 376059.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.