Britain’s top policeman said he was moving closer to catching the killer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe promised that progress was finally being made, 30 years after the officer was gunned down outside the Libyan Embassy in London.

The Daily Mirror revealed details of a £3million undercover operation in Libya’s capital Tripoli that has seen MI6 put the family and friends of prime suspect Matouk Mohamed Matouk under 24-hour surveillance.

Speaking after a service to mark the anniversary of Yvonne’s death, Sir Bernard said: “We are making progress and remain confident."

Asked if he was hopeful of catching the killer, the Scotland Yard chief said: “There is every chance that that will be successful.”

Yvonne’s colleague John Murray, who cradled the 25-year-old as she lay dying, said he had been told Matouk had fled to Egypt as Colonel Gaddafi’s regime crumbled in 2011 and is being protected by Muslim Brotherhood fundamentalists.

Vow: Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe at Yvonne Fletcher's service (
Image:
Getty)

Yvonne’s family said in a statement after the service: “To many it may seem like a fading memory but to the family it is as clear as yesterday.

"We have had to move on with our lives but it is difficult to move forward with the past unresolved.

"Closure is important to the family so that we can remember Yvonne as the happy caring person she was.

"Our desire for justice is as strong as ever.”

After a two-minute silence, the family laid flowers at the spot where the young policewoman was fatally wounded as she policed a protest against Gaddafi.

An inquest ruled she had been killed by a sub-machine gun fired from the first floor of the embassy. Ten others were hit.

Her death led to an 11-day siege of the building and the severing of diplomatic links.