'Madeleine' tapes show a girl not held against her will

Video footage studied by French police investigating claims that it shows missing Madeleine McCann said today that the girl featured does not appear to be held against her will, a police official said today.

A Dutch teenager told a Dutch newspaper that she believed she saw Madeleine alive at a restaurant near the southern city of Montpellier on February 15.

But after an initial viewing of video from the restaurant, French police said yesterday they believed that the young girl featured was not Madeleine.

“Nothing appears to show that the child was under constraint,” the police official said today, adding that the tapes were of poor quality.

Montpellier Prosecutor Jean Philippe said the tapes could be handed over tomorrow to British authorities, provided they request them.

An initial police reaction to the video left them doubtful of any link to the four-year-old girl, a police official said earlier.

Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander interviewed Melissa Firing, 18, who said she was sure the girl she saw was Madeleine because of the way she reacted when she called out her name, and because she was able to look her in the eyes.

An adult man accompanying the child took her and left the restaurant quickly afterwards, Miss Firing told the newspaper.

Madeleine has been missing since May 3, when she disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in Portugal. There have been numerous alleged sightings.