Bag of small bones found in reservoir where lawyer claims Madeleine McCann's body was dumped

Police experts were last night examining the gruesome find at the lake only 20 minutes from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where Madeleine - three at the time - disappeared last May.

Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann were told immediately by a private detective monitoring the search. Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who sponsored the dive, says he was acting on an underworld tip-off that Madeleine was murdered and her body thrown in a lake within 48-hours of being snatched.

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He said last night: "We found two bags, one of which contains some small bones.

"We don't know at this stage if they are human bones. If they are, they look like they come from a child's fingers. They are too small for an adult. I can't tell you how many we found, because we didn't count them.

"As soon as we made the find, we handed them over to the Portuguese authorities and the private detectives working for the McCanns."

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Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell played down the find.

He said: "We have not been informed of anything by the police to indicate that this find is significant. There is nothing to indicate at this stage that they are human bones and they could easily be from an animal.

"There is nothing at the moment to indicate that this find has anything to do with Madeleine. We continue to believe she is alive."

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It is the second time divers working for Mr Correia have searched the waters. The criminal lawyer has spent thousands of pounds on the search.

John Fellows, a frogman with the Lagos-based dive school Dive Time made the discovery.

The remote reservoir is near the town of Silves where a lorry driver saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine McCann over to a man two days after she went missing. Scroll down for more...

Divers had previously recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white, cotton sock.

Mr Correia, from Madeira, says he decided to search the reservoir after being told by underworld criminals that Madeleine, who was three when she disappeared, had been raped, murdered and dumped in a lake in the area within 48 hours of being snatched.

Madeleine's parents have previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there is no evidence to suggest there is any link between their daughter and the reservoir.

Francisco Mendes, a 59-year-old from Portimao who was in the area when the bones were found, said: "I was here on a day out as it is a very peaceful, remote area.

"I was having a coffee but saw the police turned up and walked down to find out what was going on.

"They have found two small black plastic bags. The police are examining them now. We are being kept 15 meters back so can't really see what's inside.

"We're told one of the bags is empty but the other one contains small bones. We don't know if they are the bones of a child or not."

The divers first searched the reservoir five weeks ago and resumed again on Monday morning.