Recently by Luke Traynor

TRIBUTES were today paid to a tireless Hillsborough campaigner who has died at the age of 72.

George Tomkins succumbed to a lung illness on Wednesday after years fighting for justice for those who died in Sheffield.

In 1983, the Liverpool FC fan spent 17 months on remand in Winson Green prison following an armed robbery in Leamington Spa, even spending time with one of the Birmingham Six during his time behind bars.

TODAY, the Liverpool ECHO can exclusively expose how police statements were crucially altered after the Hillsborough tragedy.

For the first time ever, we can reveal how reams of officers' accounts were deleted in the weeks following the disaster and how huge swathes of first-hand police statements were removed by South Yorkshire Police.

Today, families of the 96 Liverpool supporters who were killed said the dossier showed South Yorkshire Police trying to divert blame on to others.

PRESSURE was mounting on South Yorkshire Police today to release secret files on the Hillsborough disaster.

It comes after home secretary Jacqui Smith called for documents to be made available a decade before the usual 30-year disclosure rule.

The breakthrough was given a cautious welcome from families of the 96 Liverpool fans killed in the tragedy.

FAMILIES of the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster last night welcomed moves by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith which brought the release of secret police files a huge step closer.

But Hillsborough Family Support Group president Trevor Hicks said they would be seeking assurances any documents had not been "sanitised".

In a significant new step, Jacqui Smith urged South Yorkshire Police to release key files a decade before the usual 30 years.

HILLSBOROUGH families today revealed which top-secret documents they want making public in the fight for justice.

Their call came as prime minister Gordon Brown agreed to hold another cabinet-level discussion, where ministers will decide whether a fresh inquiry into the 1989 tragedy is justified.

Culture secretary Andy Burnham, who was barracked at Wednesday's 20th anniversary memorial service, yesterday told Mr Brown there cannot be "closure" until all relevant documents are made public.