Search at Madeleine suspect's home

About 12 police officers were seen searching inside and outside the Praia da Luz home of Robert Murat, situated just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago.

About 10 police officers, including two from Britain, began searching the land surrounding the property, clearing undergrowth and cutting down trees.

Mr Murat's spokesman, Tuck Price, said Mr Murat was present while most of today's searches were carried out, adding that he was doing his best to help the police with their inquiries.

The search, which is expected to last up to three more days, comes as Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, spoke for the first time of her regret at leaving her daughter on the night she disappeared.

"We are just so desperately sorry," she said. "Every hour now, I still question, 'Why did I think that was safe?' If I had had to think for one second, 'Should we have dinner and leave them?', I wouldn't have done it. It didn't happen like that. I didn't have to think for a second, that's how safe I felt."

She revealed that as she tucked Madeleine into bed that night, the little girl said: "Mummy, I've had the best day ever. I'm having lots and lots of fun."

Asked what message she would send to her daughter, Mrs McCann said: "I would tell her that we love her. She knows we love her very much. She knows we are looking for her, that we are doing absolutely everything and we will never give up."

The latest search in Portugal comes as police in Belgium investigate a possible sighting of the four year old there.

A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100% sure" she had seen the youngster. Police are treating the report "seriously" and are looking for DNA on a drinks bottle used by the girl.