Spanish private detectives hired by Gerry and Kate McCann have investigated a sighting in Morocco of a blonde girl with the same distinctive mark in one eye as missing daughter Madeleine, a family spokesman said.

KATE and Gerry McCann remain “philosophical” about the hunt for their missing daughter, despite the disappointment that a young girl spotted in Morocco was not Madeleine, relatives said last night.

Hopes that a blonde girl photographed in Morocco could be Madeleine McCann were dashed today after British journalists said they had tracked her down.