Beloved schoolgirl Claire Tiltman has been honoured with a road named after her in Greenhithe.

Cabinet members at Dartford council approved the renaming of Fastrack Manor Way at a meeting on Thursday night, after ward councillors and family members backed a campaign to have it changed.

The road, from London Road at the junction with Craylands Lane in Swanscombe and through Ingress Park, will now be known as Tiltman Avenue.

Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite expressed his delight at seeing the application given the go ahead.

“It gives me great pleasure to bring this forward,” he said.

“I had the privilege to give a Dartfordian Award to the Tiltman Support Group and when you meet them and give them an award it really is humbling.

“It is everything you expect from school mates — here is a group of people who knew each other at school and who had a friend taken from them in the most appalling circumstances.

“When you meet them now they are in their thirties and have families of their own, and you realise what an amazing friendship they had.”

Dartford Grammar School pupil Claire, from nearby Stone, was just 16 when she was murdered in a knife attack by Swanscombe milkman Colin Ash-Smith in an alleyway off London Road in January 1993.

Ash-Smith, 47, was jailed for life, with a minimum tariff of 21 years, in December 2014. He saw an appeal bid rejected last year.

Claire’s parents, Linda and Cliff, died without seeing Ash-Smith brought to justice, and Cllr Kite hopes they would be proud of the move to rename the road in their daughter’s honour.

He said: “In terms of what the council can do, I think it is absolutely the right thing to do.

“This is a road that is absolutely central to people’s thoughts, when you think of the number of people that use it each day.

“I am very proud that we are doing it — Cliff and Lynn and Claire are now together and I hope they will take some comfort that this is a town that will never forget them.”

Swanscombe’s Cllr Richard Lees suggested a road should be named in tribute to Claire in Stone rather than Greenhithe to mark the area in which she lived rather than where she died, despite more than 80 locals backign the plan.

"Tiltman Avenue remembers not just Claire, but the Tiltman family" Cllr Keith Kelly

The resident who first put forward the idea of naming the road said it would be a fitting tribute to the Tiltman family.

Jo Knowles, who met Claire’s parents Linda and Cliff while working behind the bar at the British Legion, said: “Claire’s death has always been a very negative thing for the area.

“People think of Greenhithe and say that’s where the girl was killed. Now that the individual responsible has been brought to justice it is time to start a new chapter and honour the family.

“The whole tragedy hangs over the area and this would be something positive. We need to forget him (Ash-Smith) and remember Claire and her parents.”

Cllrs Keith Kelly, Patrick Coleman, Andy Lloyd, David Mote, Patsy Thurlow and police were all in support of the proposal, which came about after the road was opened to all vehicles following an initial spell as an exclusive Fastrack bus route.

Cllr Kelly, who brought the proposal to the council’s attention, said: “Tiltman Avenue remembers not just Claire, but the Tiltman family.

“I had such a positive response to what was a fairly innocuous inquiry — it was quite overwhelming. I really do look forward to seeing the sign go up.”

The council will alert members of the community when a date for the new sign’s unveiling is confirmed.

The Tiltman family was well-known in the community, especially through their membership of the Greenhithe and Swanscombe British Legion Club.

Other tributes to Claire include a memorial bench, a plaque at the spot where she was killed and a new youth centre soon to be built in Stone will also bear her name.

Kent Police will also honour Claire when they dedicate an award to her at a ceremony this month.

Claire Causeway in Greenhithe is also named after the teenager.