Inquiry urged into Surrey Police over Milly Dowler leak

The Independent Police Complaints Commission was urged to launch an investigation into Surrey Police after The Independent's report that an officer was taken off the hunt for the killer of Milly Dowler after leaking confidential details of the investigation.

Surrey Police said it had no evidence that the officer had passed any information to the News of the World, but admitted the officer had passed details to a retired officer, who informed the force.

Last night the Dowler family's solicitor, Mark Lewis, said the role of Surrey officers in the Dowler investigation needed to be revisited in the light of revelations that her phone was hacked by the NOTW.

"This is a very serious matter... On a personal level they [the family] are distraught that such matters were taking place when the police were supposed to be looking for their daughter," he said.

A spokesman for the IPCC said at the moment it was looking at the role of the Metropolitan Police and not Surrey. But he said that if Surrey Police referred the matter to them they would launch an investigation, adding that the IPCC has the power to instigate a probe.