Madeleine police 'to arrest new suspect in Britain'

He or she could be arrested within days and deported to the Algarve in a joint operation between British and Portuguese police, according to local reports.

Detectives were put on full alert and all leave cancelled after several search warrants were issued which have 48 hours to run.

According to unconfirmed reports in the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha, police in Britain are now watching someone in connection with the case.

The person was not named and it was unclear whether he or she is actually suspected of involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, or simply a witness whom detectives would like to re-question to iron out some inconsistency.

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Detectives leading the inquiry are said to have re-examined original statements and have a clearer picture of what happened on the night Madeleine vanished, a week before her fourth birthday.

This week, police officers in the Algarve have been banned from going on holiday should a major development occur in the Madeleine inquiry.

It is understood that detectives are now working on the theory that Madeleine may have been the victim of a burglary which went wrong.

Police are now re-examining a series of break-ins at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz and will interview victims of an intruder at the resort.

One theory is that Madeleine may have been woken by a thief and that she was then killed in the apartment to prevent her screaming.

Her body may then have been weighed down and dumped at sea. Officers are examining local tides and currents to try to pinpoint where a body could have been washed up.

Police will speak again in the coming days to Pamela Fenn, 73, who owns an apartment above the one where Madeleine was sleeping with her brother and sister, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. Madeleine was six days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished.

Mrs Fenn claims to have disturbed an intruder in her flat a few weeks earlier, scaring him off. Her niece will also give a new statement to police, having spotted a suspicious man hanging around the apartment block on the night Madeleine vanished.

It has been suggested the intruder may have had a key to the flat and let himself in. A similar claim is being made about a burglary at another apartment.

It is thought Mrs Fenn will make a formal statement to police today at the headquarters in Portimao, not far from Praia da Luz.

Her niece, who has not been named, has also given a statement to British police in which her description of the suspect matches that given to police by a friend of Gerry and Kate McCann who was dining with them on the night.

Jane Tanner has already told detectives that she saw a man walking away from the apartment carrying a child in a blanket. Ms Tanner now thinks the child could have been Madeleine.

Police are expected to step up the hunt with a series of fresh searches this week.

A police source said: "The next few days are going to be decisive. There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes for some time now.

"The direction of the investigation does not just depend on the outcome of the forensic tests, we have other evidence.

"This week there will be an increase in police activity on the ground. We will be looking in areas where Madeleine may have been taken the night she disappeared."

Portugal's top policeman, Alipio Ribeiro, yesterday dismissed criticism of the investigation. He said: "I have always said that Poirot acted alone and was effective. This is not about numbers. Currently, it is not even about resources."