Madeleine: New police chief's fury over the mess he inherited from his predecessor

According to reports, officers have spent the past fortnight processing information left lying around on scraps of paper and following leads ignored by police working under Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral.

Following Amaral's removal after he criticised British police, Rebelo, one of Portugal's national deputy police chiefs, is reviewing the whole forensic investigation because of earlier procedural errors.

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Local sources believe this will lead to further tests on the holiday apartment and hire car used by Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann. British sources are doubtful this would yield anything new, especially given the length of time that has elapsed.

Meanwhile, a police source quoted in a Portuguese newspaper said: "There was important material lying all over the place that hadn't been considered by investigators.

"A lot of key information was discarded. The whole process is being reviewed. Putting all the papers in order has been a massive task."

Officers have been working round-the-clock to log on to a computer all information relating to the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine from the holiday complex in May.

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However, the number of officers involved in the case has also been cut from 100 to about 40. Local press reports suggest that Rebelo's men were growing more sceptical about Madeleine being kidnapped.

Rebelo, previously involved in investigating a Lisbon paedophile ring, has placed his faith in Antonio Teixeira, a 59-year-old murder squad detective with more than 30 years' experience.

Two months ago he was involved in the hunt for the killer of a 77-year-old British woman who disappeared from a popular beach resort in Sintra near Lisbon.

A neighbour was arrested the day after the alarm was raised.

In a rare interview recently, Teixeira claimed: "Homicide is a crime we're all capable of committing." A colleague said: "By bringing him onto the case, the police are sending out a clear sign that the main lead as far as they concerned is homicide.

"You don't invest effort in that sort of hypothesis with just the slight suspicion a violent crime has taken place. Antonio is a breath of fresh air for this investigation. If he has to choose between the direct route and a more roundabout one, he chooses the first to resolve a crime.

"And he always gets it right."

Gerry and Kate McCann strenuously deny that they have anything to do with Madeleine's death or disappearance.