Fresh Madeleine search near lake

Land and a lake within a large radius of the Ocean Club Holiday resort in Praia da Luz - where the youngster vanished on May 3 - are to be examined.

The areas to be covered include the coast between Praia da Luz and the village of Burgau, land between the Ocean Club and the beach, and the forests and isolated villas around the Bravura dam in Odiaxere, according to newspaper reports.

The land was searched early on in the investigation but it is believed searches there were not extensive.

Paulo Rebelo, one of Portugal's most senior detectives and the new head of the investigation, is thought to have ordered the move.

Police frogmen are also expected to start searching the lake, which is two-and-a-half miles wide.

Meanwhile officers are reportedly planning to examine spots where Madeleine McCann's parents, Gerry and Kate, and their friends, used their mobile phones.

Robert Murat, the first person to be declared an official suspect over Madeleine's disappearance, broke his silence to make a direct plea to the Portuguese Police to finally clear him of suspicion.

Mr Murat said in an interview: "It's five months, my savings have gone. Mum is doing what she can. It is just very, very difficult."

Gerry and Kate McCann were themselves declared arguidos - or official suspects - last month after tests on DNA samples found in their hire car were taken as suggesting Madeleine's body had been transported in the vehicle.