Madeleine mother: My daily torment

She said she came "crashing down" when police named her as a suspect in her daughter's disappearance, but said nothing could eclipse the horror of the night Madeleine went missing from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal's Algarve on May 3.

Speaking alongside husband Gerry, she said: "A lot has happened since then. Sometimes, the most trivial of things can bring you crashing down. I think when we were made suspects in our own daughter's disappearance, when the inference was that Madeleine was dead and that, somehow, we were involved ... But, no, it can't get worse than that first night."

In their first in-depth interview since being made official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, Kate and Gerry McCann said they had received messages of goodwill from far and wide.

They told the Leicester Mercury they had seen a groundswell of support from people closer to home in Leicestershire and said they wanted to thank people from their home village of Rothley for their continued backing.

Mrs McCann said she "had days when, if I wasn't crying about Madeleine, I was crying from the letters and messages people have sent to us. It has helped so much" and that she and her husband were lifted by the presence of their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

Mrs McCann said: "Everything that has happened, everything we do and feel, it is all put into perspective by how we felt on that first night. Something carries you through. We have Sean and Amelie of course. We are there for them.

"And we still have hope. The messages of support, friends and family rallying round. You just can't underestimate what those messages of support have meant for us. They have kept us going on low days, kept us strong during the worst times."

The couple, both 39, said they wanted the focus to remain on finding four-year-old Madeleine. Mr McCann said: "We want to increase awareness, get back to basics if you like. Target specific areas with pictures and billboards and messages. We want to refocus the coverage."

Mrs McCann said: "The coverage has been on us. The coverage should be on Madeleine, no-one else."