New leads in search for Madeleine

Reports in two separate Portuguese newspapers on Thursday said police hunting for missing Madeleine McCann were investigating the possibility that she was snatched by two men and a woman.

24 Horas and Correio da Manha both reported that CCTV footage from a petrol station just outside Praia Da Luz could hold the key.

It was confirmed on Wednesday by a source that police had taken CCTV footage from the service station. But accounts differ as to the details of what is shown.

24 Horas said the woman was in her 40s, blonde and appeared foreign. An earlier report pointed to a woman alone with a girl.

The newspaper said the image had been passed to British police for help in attempting to identify her. It added that it was also being shown to those who gave witness statements to the police.

Correio da Manha said the CCTV footage showed a car with a British number plate and claimed that the number has already been circulated through Interpol.

It said one theory was that the kidnap was carried out by one of the men with the complicity of a couple.

Meanwhile, Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, face an agonising milestone as they enter the seventh day since her disappearance.

Last Thursday night they returned from dining with friends at a tapas bar opposite their holiday apartment to discover that Madeleine - who will be four on Saturday - was gone.

The past week has been an agonising wait for news for the couple as they also care for their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. On Wednesday night the couple, both doctors, insisted they remained positive and full of hope.