Police have revealed they are investigating nine new lines of enquiry relating to the murder of Cornish mum Lyn Bryant, following a major public appeal for information on the 20th anniversary of her death.

In just 24 hours after launching their appeal, Devon and Cornwall Police have received around 50 calls and messages.

These have generated nine new potential lines of enquiry which are being investigated by detectives from the Major Crime Investigation Team.

Six of the leads relate to names of people already known to police, who may now be asked to provide a DNA sample for elimination purposes.

Lyn, 40, was killed on Tuesday, October 20, 1998 as she walked the family dog in quiet country lanes near her home in Ruan High Lanes on The Roseland.

Her body was found in a gateway of a field and she had been stabbed a number of times in a prolonged attack.

Senior Investigating Office Stuart Ellis, a retired detective inspector from the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “The response from the public in the first 24 hours of the appeal has been extremely positive and encouraging. We now have at least nine new potential lines of enquiry which are being progressed, six of which relate to people who may well now be asked to provide a DNA sample.

“We are however still appealing to the public to cast their minds back to 1998 and keep the information coming in to us. We have the scientific evidence and all we need now from the public is a name.

“We would urge anyone who has any information, however small, to pick up the phone and call us. That one piece of information could make all the difference.”

You can call the incident room on 0800 096 1233 or report online via www.dc.police.uk/lynbryant.

In 2015 detectives went back to basics for a full forensic review of the case, examining hundreds of key exhibits with forensic scientists.

This brought about a critical breakthrough thanks to modern scientific techniques – a new partial DNA profile believed to belong to Lyn’s killer.

Since October 2016 officers have been retaking DNA samples from people in the local area and across the UK. Some are selected from the National DNA Database while others are being drawn from the 6,000 individuals who gave DNA to the original enquiry.

All 6,000 are being systematically reviewed and new DNA samples are being taken from some to check them against the partial profile.

A £10,000 reward has been offered by independent charity Crimestoppers for information they receive which leads to the arrest and conviction of Lyn’s killer.