Police hope this logo will provide a vital breakthrough in the hunt for the killer of Sarah Payne.

It was spotted on the rear of a white lorry seen close to where the eight-year-old's body was dumped on the A29 near Pulborough.

In a Press conference at Littlehampton today, Det Supt Peter Kennett said the lorry driver could be the key to the investigation.

He said: "Sarah was buried at about that time on Saturday, July 1. It is essential for that driver to come forward. You could be one of the key witnesses."

The lorry was travelling north on the A29 when it had to brake sharply for a transit van pulling out from a side turning exactly where where Sarah's body was found.

Det Supt Kennett said the van pulled out sharply with only its side lights on.

A witness, who was travelling with his two daughters, who was driving behind the lorry, described the white van as looking like a ghost vehicle.

The witness, a 40-year-old man who had been visiting his parents in Bognor, was driving north to his home in Crawley. He overtook the lorry ten miles further up the A29.

The van turned off the A29 and headed towards Barns Green, about four miles north of the spot where Sarah's body was found on July 17.

Det Supt Kennett said the police were now very keen to hear from the driver of the lorry which was described as being 30ft long and 12ft high with curtain sides, rear doors and a distinctive logo on the back with yellow and blue writing above and below the picture.

The lorry was believed to be English although the witness could not be sure where it was from.

A police spokesman said: "The family cannot remember what the words were, but it is possible they included a telephone number."

Police have spent weeks trying to trace what could be a tyre delivery or breakdown lorry but so far without success.

The lorry was seen at about 10.15pm on Saturday, July 1, the evening when Sarah was kidnapped and murdered.

The schoolgirl had been playing with her brothers and sisters in a field close to her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, near East Preston, when she was abducted.

Rewards totalling £150,000, including £10,000 from the Evening Argus, are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sarah's killer.

Det Supt Kennett said: "We need to hear from anyone in the country that has any idea about the company that has got this particular logo. If you work for this company please ring us.

"If you are the driver of that particular vehicle travelling north, please ring us.

"We stress the driver and vehicle are in no way suspected of being involved in the murder of Sarah Payne."

Det Supt Kennett said: "Potentially we have a witness to a vehicle and possibly the driver of that vehicle at the time and place Sarah was buried.

"It could be he was so upset by the van pulling out in front of him that he took down the number plate."

Det Supt Kennett said he was confident there would be a successful outcome to the investigation which has so far cost Sussex Police more than £1 million.

He said calls were still coming in on a daily basis and much of the forensic evidence was yet to come back.

Any witness wishing to contact the police should call 0845 60 70 999.