Missing girl's parents meet police

They were driven to the Policia Judiciaria headquarters in Portimao on the Algarve as the inquiry into their daughter's disappearance centred on a group of three - two men and a woman.

Two further "couples" aged in their 50s were driven into the back of the PJ building in Portimao by mid afternoon.

Luis Rego of Portuguese SIC television was watching the entrance when they were driven in. Asked if the other people looked English he said: "Of that I have no doubt."

Local news reports said footage from a petrol station just outside Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing, could now hold the key to the investigation.

It was confirmed on Wednesday by a source that officers from Portugal's investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ) had taken away CCTV footage from the Galp service station on the east-west motorway just outside the resort.

It is believed a woman with a child matching Madeleine's description had been at the service station and attracted the suspicions of staff. But reports, which have not been confirmed by police, said two men were also present.

Newspaper 24 Horas said the woman was in her 40s, blonde and appeared foreign. The newspaper said the image had been passed to British police in a bid to identify her and said the footage had also been shown to those who gave witness statements to police to identify her.

Correio Da Manha said the CCTV footage included a car with a British number plate and claimed the number had already been circulated through Interpol.

Madeleine has been missing for a week. She was snatched as she slept in her parents holiday apartment in the village while the couple were dining nearby.