A detective was removed from the Milly Dowler murder investigation for leaking information.
The news follows the allegation that a private detective acting for the News of the World accessed and deleted the murdered schoolgirl's voicemail messages.
Surrey Police said the unnamed detective had been removed for speaking to an ex-colleague, not the media.
A force statement said: "A Surrey Police detective constable was given words of advice and removed from working on the Operation Ruby team in 2002 following concern raised by a colleague about the conduct of the officer.
"This related to the inappropriate disclosure of information about aspects of the investigation to a retired police officer friend.
"A serving colleague was told of the inappropriate disclosure by the person who had heard it, and immediately reported it to their senior management team.
"The following day, the officer, who was working for the major crime team at that time, received words of advice and was removed permanently from the inquiry."
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