Madeleine McCann: police fly in for interviews

PORTUGUESE police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann were due to arrive in the UK today, to attend interviews with friends of the missing girl's parents.

Leicestershire Police will question the seven witnesses who dined with the McCanns on the day the four-year-old went missing.

Three Portuguese officers will land at East Midlands Airport at lunchtime – led by Paulo Rebelo, a senior detective from Lisbon, who took over control of the case in October.

The interviews with the McCanns' seven friends will begin tomorrow and should be completed by the end of the week. The visiting officers will not interact directly with the witnesses, but have submitted questions in advance through the Home Office – which will be put by Leicestershire Police.

Madeleine, of Leicestershire, disappeared from a holiday apartment in the Algarve on May 3 last year. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who deny any wrongdoing, remain formal suspects, but will not face questioning.