Madeleine: Portuguese police's fury as British DNA experts attack their 'unprofessional and amateurish' work

The row erupted last week during a summit meeting between experts from the two countries.

Portuguese detectives had arrived in Britain hoping test results would crack the case, it is claimed.

Scroll down for more...

But a source said: "The Portuguese arrived with the attitude of, "OK, where are the findings we need?"

"The Forensic Science Service basically said there weren't any and made it clear things could have been collected more professionally.

"That doesn't mean there was a lot of evidence they failed to collect but what evidence there is was collected in a very amateurish way.

"The Portuguese took this badly. They were unhappy because there was implicit criticism of how they collected the evidence.

"There was a heated exchange of views."

The four-strong Portuguese team included Inspector Ricardo Paiva, the right-hand man of Paulo Rebelo, the officer in overall charge of the inquiry.

They met five experts from the FSS, which has been conducting forensic tests at its base in Birmingham for the past four months.

It has already been widely reported that samples of DNA taken from the crime scene are heavily contaminated.

Scroll down for more.

Earlier this week Portuguese experts reportedly admitted they face an "impossible mission" to solve Madeleine's disappearance through DNA tests because the forensic evidence is so poor.