A decision to charge a convicted killer with the murder of Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler could be made within weeks.

Prosecutors are considering whether to put prime suspect Levi Bellfield, 40, in the dock over the 13-year-old's death.

The murderer worked as a clamper at Chichester Gate car park in 2004.

The Crown Prosecution Service was handed a huge dossier of evidence by detectives from Surrey Police's Operation Ruby team in August.

It includes dramatic new evidence against Bellfield, which cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, obtained by investigators last December.

Officials at the Crown Prosecution Service's complex casework unit continue to examine five files of evidence, including thousands of pages of documents.

The murder of Amanda Dowler, known as Milly, is one of Britain's most notorious unsolved crimes. She vanished while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames on March 21 2002. Six months later her skeletal remains were found 30 miles away in Yateley Heath, Hampshire.

Officers have been painstakingly building a case against Bellfield since he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in November 2004 over other matters.

Bellfield, 41, was told last year that he will die in jail after he was found guilty of murdering students Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of schoolgirl Kate Sheedy, 18. All of the women were attacked near bus stops in south west London.

The former nightclub bouncer and wheelclamper was arrested and interviewed over Milly's death four years ago. Officers believe they have compelling circumstantial evidence which links him to the appalling crime.

Legal experts must then decide if there is a realistic prospect that Bellfield would be convicted of the murder. They must also examine whether it is in the public interest to try Bellfield, who is already serving a whole life tariff at Wakefield Prison.