Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have requested more money from the Home Office, Sky News has learned.

Funding for the Scotland Yard probe is due to run out at the end of March but officers have now asked that extra cash be provided to keep it going until the end of September, Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said.

Scotland Yard is "keen to continue its investigation", he explained.

"The situation at the moment is that there is Home Office funding to keep Scotland Yard's part of the joint investigation with the Portuguese going until the end of March," he said.

"But Scotland Yard has asked for more money."


It is not known how much cash is being requested, and Martin Brunt said it "may be some time" before Home Office ministers make a decision.

"Clearly Scotland Yard feels it hasn't come to the end of the line," he added.

:: What happened to Madeleine McCann? Six possible theories examined

Image: Madeleine has been missing since May 2007

Madeleine was three years of age when she went missing in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in 2007.

Last May, on the tenth anniversary of her disappearance, Scotland Yard said it had one critical piece of work still to do, but did not say what it was.

Martin Brunt said that as he understood it, it was a "final theory that was very complicated", and involved "a lot of sensitive diplomacy".

It was "likely to take some time to find the clues, if they were there".

The investigation team, which once numbered 30 officers, is now down to four.

The Home Office said in a statement: "Resources required are reviewed regularly, with careful consideration given before any new funding is allocated.

"The Metropolitan Police has made a further application for funding, which is currently being considered."