'I saw Madeleine in Morocco,' says second witness

The man said he is sure he saw the missing youngster in Marrakesh on May 9.

The sighting came on the same day and in the same area of the city that Norwegian tourist Mari Pollard also believes she saw the little girl.

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Mrs Pollard contacted police soon afterwards to say she was "99.9 per cent sure" she had seen Madeleine with a man at a petrol station.

She said she heard the child ask:

"Can I see Mummy soon?" The new witness, who is understood to be from Yorkshire, told Leicestershire police he saw a girl he now believes was Madeleine outside the Ibis Hotel, virtually opposite the garage.

He contacted police after he returned home and saw photographs of Madeleine, whom he said closely resembled the girl he saw.

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The man did not know about Mrs Pollard's report.

It means police have two independent sightings at a similar time on the same day and within a few hundred yards of each other.

Leicestershire Police passed the man's information to Portuguese and Moroccan authorities.

But Mrs Pollard, 45, also had her information passed to the Portuguese police and said they did not contact her until weeks later, after she spoke out in the media.

In June, after Mrs Pollard's reported sighting was made public, Kate and Gerry McCann travelled to Morocco to appeal for information about their daughter.

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Their family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple had been told of both possible Morocco sightings some weeks ago.

He said: "It was made known to us when it was reported.

"All I can say is that any possible sightings, if credible, we hope would be examined thoroughly."

A source close to the family said they have not been told the Englishman's identity but would be keen to speak to him.

• Former chief suspect Robert Murat will be told by detectives this week that they now consider him innocent, police sources said last night.