A possible new witness to the attempted murder of Abigail Witchalls has come forward following an appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch.

A reconstruction of the attack in a quiet lane in Little Bookham, Surrey, on the BBC1 programme prompted 58 calls to the studio and the Surrey Police incident room in just over an hour and a half.

Among the callers was a woman from Crawley, a short drive from Little Bookham, who said she had been frightened by a man in a light blue car who followed her the day before the attack.

Mrs Witchalls has told police she first felt uneasy when, as she pushed her 21-month-old son Joseph's buggy along Water Lane, her eyes met those of the driver of a blue car.

A man also called Crimewatch to say he had been very close to the scene of the attack a month ago and may have seen the attacker running away.

Detective Superintendent Adrian Harper, who is leading the investigation, said: "We have had one important call from Hythe in Kent, from a man who thinks he may have been in the area at the time."

While neighbours heard screams at the time of the attack, so far no one, apart from Mrs Witchalls and her son, is known to have seen the attacker.

Mr Harper told the programme nearby police had yet to trace two men who had been tending a bonfire at the time of the attack.

He also insisted that former Little Bookham resident Richard Cazaly, 23, who apparently committed suicide within days of the attack, was still only one line of inquiry.

He said the contents of two letters left by Cazaly before his death did not amount to a confession.

Cazaly fled Little Bookham five days after the attack and died of an apparent paracetamol overdose in Scotland on April 30.

Mrs Witchalls' husband Benoit, 26, told the programme the attacker needed help and appealed for information to catch him so he could receive the support he needed.