POLICE are today investigating a new lead into the murder of a Suffolk teenager six years after the event happened.A 76-year-old woman, who lived in Wells Road, Ipswich, at the time Vicky Hall went missing in 1999 has called Ipswich police station after seeing a renewed appeal to catch the killer.

POLICE are today investigating a new lead into the murder of a Suffolk teenager six years after the event happened.

A 76-year-old woman, who lived in Wells Road, Ipswich, at the time Vicky Hall went missing in 1999 has called Ipswich police station after seeing a renewed appeal to catch the killer.

The pensioner says she saw the teenager regularly visiting a man who lived in a flat in the road during the year of her death.

However, Vicky's parents Graham and Lorinda Hall believe it could be a case of mistaken identity as they say their daughter could not have been in Ipswich at the time it is claimed.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, said: “Vicky came to the flat numerous times in the period leading from March to August in 1999.

“I remember her so well because she had a fantastic smile which stuck in your mind.

“She also had lovely long blonde hair and looked far too classy to be hanging around this street.

“As a mother I was concerned for her well being and even phoned the police to warn them she was hanging around the flat because I feared she may be in trouble.

“The man who owned the flat worked in the evening and it looked as though he may have been a doorman at a nightclub in the town because of the way he dressed.

“Vicky's visits would always be during the day on Saturdays and I saw her because I was always in the kitchen and would look out of the window.”

The pensioner said the girl used to wear a beige jacket which police later talked about in their appeals and she also believes the car parked outside the flat could be the red Subaru car which was also highlighted in the investigation.

Although the pensioner reported information to the police at the time she called again six years later in the hopes she would be able to help with police inquiries.

But Mrs Hall said her daughter worked in Strides clothes shop in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe, all day every Saturday and would not have been in Ipswich.

She said: “I cannot say that Vicky didn't know someone in this street in Ipswich but she would not have been there on Saturdays as she worked - it may have been someone who looked like her.

“The police have not told us about this information. We know they do investigate every piece of information they get and they have been following up leads and do keep in touch with us.”

Senior investigating officer, detective superintendent Roy Lambert, said: “We are happy to look at all information presented to us to establish whether or not it is relevant to the ongoing inquiry.

“The investigation into Victoria's death remains open and her clothes and her handbag have yet to be found.

“Somebody may have the key bit of intelligence which could help us to find out what happened to these items and I would appeal to anyone who has any information at all relating to this investigation to contact police.

“They may feel the bit of information they have is irrelevant however it could prove crucial in our search to establish who was responsible for Vicky's death.”

Panel:

VICKY Hall vanished on September 19 1999 after walking back from a night out at the Bandbox night spot on the Felixstowe seafront with her best friend.

The pair parted at 2.30am at the corner of High Road and Faulkeners Way - just 500 yards away from Vicky's home.

A few moments later a harrowing scream and sound of a car speeding off was heard - and Vicky was found dead five days later at Creeting St Peter.

In 2000 Felixstowe man Adrian Bradshaw was arrested and charged with Vicky's murder but after spending a year in custody awaiting trial, he was acquitted at Norwich Crown Court in November 2001.

Investigations into the death of the 17-year-old have remained open and police renewed an appeal to members of the public on September 17 this year.