A British girl of eight has been taken into care in Portugal over claims her mother had neglected her, it emerged yesterday.

Ariella d'Gama was put in a children's home after a British man told police that her mother Stephanie Bysh, 44, had been 'drinking heavily'.

Friends of Miss Bysh said she had suffered from a drinking problem in the past, but denied that she was an alcoholic and rejected reports that the pair had been forced to sleep rough after running out of money.

Mother: Stephanie Bysh yesterday. She is due to appear in court to fight for the return of her daughter Ariella D'Gama from Portuguese authorities

Officials said the man brought Ariella to a police station in Lagos on August 17. The town is five miles from Praia da Luz, where missing toddler Madeleine McCann disappeared in May last year from a rented apartment.

Sub- commissioner Ricardo Pereira, of the Algarve's Public Safety Police, said: 'The mother had brought the girl on a fourweek holiday in Portimao but had run out of money and went to stay with some friends, a British couple who live in Lagos.

'The man who brought her in is a friend of that couple. His claim that she was being neglected will be investigated by the court. One of the things he said is that the mother was drinking heavily.

'There is a suggestion the mother and child were sleeping rough before they were taken in by the couple.'

He refused to comment on claims that the girl had been left alone in a holiday apartment while her mother went out drinking.

Portimao, in Portugal's Algarve region, where the mother and daughter were staying - just miles from where Madeleine McCann was snatched

Madeleine McCann was snatched on May 3, 2007 after her parents left her asleep to go out to dinner yards away

Ariella was initially placed in a children's refuge in Faro. Three days later she was moved to a children's home in nearby Loule, where officials said she was healthy and showed no signs of neglect.

Her mother has been allowed to visit her, but has been told her daughter will not be returned to her until a family court hearing on September 5.

Miss Bysh has not been charged with any offence and Mr Pereira said the area prosecutor would decide if she will face legal action.

Portuguese radio reports claimed neighbours had become concerned after the girl was left alone for several nights. Miss Bysh was said to have been told to avoid alcohol as she was on medication for drink-related problems and depression.

A friend of Miss Bysh said she was taking medication to stop her from drinking, which would have caused a severe reaction if she drank alcohol.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: 'Stephanie has been off the booze for 18 months, but she fell off the wagon a day before she decided to go to Portugal. I spoke to her while she was out there and it was clear she had been drinking.'

He said Miss Bysh and Ariella had originally been staying in a 15 euro-a-night guest house in Portimao.

But they went to stay with friends in Lagos after Miss Bysh lost her purse and mobile phone on a beach, and was unable to pay for their room.

She then fell out with a neighbour of her friends, who threatened to take her daughter to the police, he said.

He added: 'She absolutely dotes on Ariella and she's falling apart because she's been taken away. That little girl is her life.'

On Monday Miss Bysh, who is currently jobless and is separated from Ariella's father, was discharged from Portimao hospital after four days treatment there.

A spokesman for the hospital refused to comment on whether she had been drinking, saying: 'The only problem that brought her to the hospital was a kidney problem.'

Last night Miss Bysh had returned to the hotel where she had been staying before being hospitalised, where she refused to comment.

A hotel worker, who spoke anonymously, said he called the ambulance last Thursday when Miss Bysh complained of kidney problems, and 'was crawling around the corridors'.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'An eight-year-old girl has been placed in the care of Portuguese social services. We are providing appropriate consular assistance to both the mother and the child.'

In May, three British children were taken into temporary care when their mother collapsed after a night out in the Algarve.

Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin, from Maghera, near Belfast, vehemently denied they had been drinking and said Mrs McGuckin had become violently ill and her husband had gone with her to hospital, having made arrangements for the children to be looked after.

Authorities in Faro began investigating, but the case was dropped when the family left Portugal.