Police hand over evidence to McCanns

Police have agreed to hand over evidence about Madeleine McCann's disappearance to her parents, in a deal aimed at ending a legal bid to force them to disclose the information.

Madeleine disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal on May 3 last year, shortly before her fourth birthday.

The agreement at the High Court followed Leicestershire Police's decision to release 81 pieces of information about the investigation to Gerry and Kate McCann.

"Kate and Gerry McCann welcome this compromise reached with the police," said the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell. "If we hadn't gone to court, we wouldn't have these 81 pieces of information coming in.

"That information now goes to our private investigators, who will work on it, all as a priority.

"This information comes from people who contacted Gerry and Kate and their solicitors just after Madeleine went missing. Arguably their information is far more important than that received further down the line."

Mitchell said the McCanns were working on the presumption that their daughter was still alive. Despite numerous reported sightings, no confirmed trace of the girl has ever been found and no one has been charged.