Parents of missing Madeleine deny film plan

The parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann have denied media reports that they are planning to turn the story of their daughter's disappearance into a film.

"We can categorically deny that we are considering a movie about Madeleine's disappearance. This is simply untrue," her father Gerry wrote on his blog.

The youngster disappeared last May shortly before her fourth birthday during a family holiday in the Portuguese beach resort of Praia da Luz.

Her parents, whom Portuguese police have named as formal suspects, believe she was abducted from their holiday apartment as they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.

Despite a string of possible sightings and a huge police investigation, the girl's whereabouts remains a mystery.

On Wednesday, most tabloids reported on their front pages that the McCanns were hoping a film might help their search and raise money to pay for a team of private detectives they have hired.

The reports said the 1.2 million pounds raised by public donations to search for the missing girl has almost been exhausted and that the parents' spokesman Clarence Mitchell had confirmed meeting film representatives.

"Some of the media coverage today has been at its worst since Kate and I were declared arguidos (official suspects)," Gerry McCann said in a blog entry dated on Tuesday.

"As stated today by Clarence, there was a preliminary discussion between a production agency and a representative of Kate and I to discuss the possibility of a documentary about the issues we have faced since Madeleine was abducted."

He said the couple had been approached by "a huge number of media outlets regarding a myriad of projects" but they only agreed to a tiny proportion.

"Each proposal is considered on whether it is likely to have a positive effect, either directly or indirectly on the search for Madeleine," he said.