The Scotland Yard search for Madeleine McCann is set to be extended, three weeks before its funding was due to run out.

Detectives have asked the Home Office for more money while they continue to explore one last theory about her disappearance.

Ministers are likely to approve a cash injection so long as they are satisfied there is still a realistic chance of discovering the fate of Madeleine, who was nearly four when she vanished during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police and their Portuguese colleagues have worked together for more than a year to find clues to corroborate their theory.

Documentary: Searching for Madeleine

Sky News understands that phase of their investigation is complete and their success will hinge on technical results of their work.


The money they are asking for is unlikely to be a large amount, effectively enough to keep a small number of detectives - three or four - on little more than a watching brief.

The request should be approved in the next week or so.

Image: Kate and Gerry McCann have never given up hope of finding Madeleine

The Home Office has funded the six-year investigation with £11.2m since it began in 2011.

The first year cost £1.9m, but the annual amounts have gradually reduced. In April, detectives were given £85,000 to keep going until the end of this month.

Madeleine: 500 lines of inquiry but no conclusions

On the 10th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, the Met's Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer.

"But until we've gone through it, I don't know if we are going to get there or not."

Madeleine vanished in May 2007 from a ground-floor holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast.

Image: Police have carried out searches in Portugal over a number of years

She had been left sleeping in a room with her younger brother and sister while her parents Kate and Gerry McCann dined nearby with friends.

The couple said they made regular checks on their three children and discovered Madeleine was missing around 10pm, insisting she had been abducted.

The original Portuguese police investigation was closed after 15 months without establishing any firm clues. It was reopened in 2011.

Image: A photo of the McCanns when they were a family of five

The McCanns, who were considered suspects but then cleared of suspicion, hired a series of private investigators without success.

Eventually, they appealed to then prime minister David Cameron, who agreed to ask Scotland Yard to review all the gathered evidence and later start its own inquiry.

Early ideas about sex predators, child traffickers and "a burglary gone wrong" were largely dismissed before both detective teams joined forces to focus on the latest theory.