Portuguese police have boosted their Madeleine McCann squad after identifying a foreign paedophile as a new suspect for her abduction, it is claimed.

Information about the new suspect had been passed on by Scotland Yard, according to media reports in Lisbon.

Portugal's Expresso news website claimed the man had already been investigated for alleged child sex offences before Madeleine vanished from her family's rented holiday apartment on the Algarve coast 12 years ago.

The CmTv channel on Friday night also broadcast claims that police were investigating a new suspect and had increased the number of detectives involved in the case.

It also claimed there was more than one suspect.


Image: The hunt for Madeleine continues - she would be turning 16 this month

It comes as Scotland Yard doubled its usual six-monthly bid for Home Office funding, asking for £300,000 to keep its own detectives working on the case for another whole year.

It's awaiting ministers' decision.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said: "We have active lines of inquiry and I think the public would expect us to see those through.

"A very small team continues to work on this case with Portuguese colleagues."

Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from the apartment as her parents and friends dined nearby in Praia da Luz on 3 May, 2007.

Portuguese police abandoned their investigation after 15 months, finding no evidence of what happened to her.

They reopened the investigation in 2012, before Scotland Yard was asked to investigate, too. The two forces worked separately at first, but now share information.

Image: Kate and Gerry McCann believe their daughter could still be alive

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann insist their daughter could still be alive, in the absence of any evidence she has come to harm.

In a statement on the 12th anniversary of her disappearance, they said: "As much as we'd like to fast forward the first couple of weeks of May, there's no getting around it.

"The months and years roll by too quickly.

"Madeleine will be 16 this month.

"It's impossible to put into words just how that makes us feel.

"There is comfort and reassurance though in knowing that the investigation continues and many people around the world remain vigilant."