More witnesses claim they 'saw prime suspect near Madeleine flat'

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"They claim they saw a man matching Murat's description outside the Ocean Club on the night Madeleine disappeared," a police source reportedly told the Daily Express.

"Their statements are being checked because they appear to go against Mr Murat's alibi.

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Top Madeleine suspect Robert Murat arrives at the police station last week. Murat claims he was at his mother's house the night Madeleine disappeared

"As a result of this evidence we will question Mr Murat later this week."

If true the statements would corrobate evidence given last week by three friends of Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry.

Fiona Payne, Rachael Oldfield and Russell O'Brien - who were with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished – grilled Murat last week for five hours in interviews arranged by Portuguese police.

Robert Murat has always maintained he was at home with his elderly mother all evening when the four-year-old was snatched from her bed on May 3.

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Search for the truth: Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann Rachael Oldfield, Fiona Payne and Russell O'Brien confronted Murat with police last week

Portuguese detectives quizzed Murat and the friends together in an attempt to thrash out the possible contradictions in their accounts.

The group of friends, which include two doctors, flew back into Portugal this week and were reinterviewed by detectives together with Murat at a police station in Portimao, 40 miles from Praia Da Luz.

Up to 25 people including tourists, hotel staff and locals joined the initial search for Madeleine after her parents realised she had been taken while they dined a few hundred yards away in the resort of Praia Da Luz.

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Four-year-old Madeleine has been missing since May 3

But property developer Murat told police he had spent the entire evening with his 71-year-old mother Jenny at the villa they share a short walk from the McCanns' holiday flat.

He says he first went to the apartment the following morning to offer his services in the search.

The new witnesses reportedly made their statements in a series of detailed interviews with police in Portimao.

Murat, who strenuously denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, was arrested 11 days after she vanished and remains the only formal suspect in the investigation.