WITNESSES to the murder of a Bolton born policeman have been offered police protection and a new identity anywhere in the world if they come forward and help detectives catch the killer.

Detectives said they were closer to finding the man who gunned down Bolton-born PC Patrick Dunne after 40 people telephoned them following a television appeal.

Police said eight callers mentioned the same three names after the reconstruction of the murder of PC Dunne eight years ago was shown on BBC's Crimewatch programme.

Police also said anyone willing to be a witness would be given a new identity and be allowed to leave the country.

In particular, they are anxious to trace a person who said their friend had witnessed the shooting, which also killed club doorman Kwame Danso, but was too scared to come forward.

Scotland Yard and a national newspaper have offered a total of £100,000, one of the largest rewards in criminal history, to catch the killer.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said today: "We had an excellent response and now have a number of excellent leads which we will be following up in the next few days."

Last night viewers saw a six-and-a-half minute reconstruction of the shooting on October 20, 1993, in which 44-year-old beat officer PC Dunne, formerly head of maths at the Deane School, was killed by a single bullet to the chest while on duty in Clapham.

He had been dealing with a routine inquiry across the street from Mr Danso's house when he heard shots. As he went out to investigate he was gunned down by a gang, who then fired celebratory shots into the air.

In 1993, three men were charged in connection with the shooting but the charges were dropped the following year.

A year later, two handguns were recovered from Wandsworth Cemetery, following a tip-off from an anonymous caller, but the culprits have never been found. PC Dunne's younger brother Steve, who lives in Devon, said last night: "The pain is still there, eight years later because you know Patrick should be around, he should be here."