Police search house in Madeleine case

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal today began another search at the home of the only official…

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal today began another search at the home of the only official suspect in the case.

Around 10 police officers, including two from Britain, starting searching the land surrounding the house of Robert Murat at about 7am, his spokesman, Tuck Price, said.

They are clearing undergrowth and cutting down trees on the property in Praia da Luz, just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago.

Mr Murat is not currently at home but the search is expected to last up to four days.

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The latest search in Portugal comes as police in Belgium investigate a possible sighting of the four-year-old there.

A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100 per cent sure" she had seen the youngster.

She said the girl was with a couple, a Dutch man and an English-speaking woman, who were acting strangely and not like "normal parents".

A police spokeswoman said they were treating the report "seriously" and are looking for DNA on a drinks bottle used by the girl.

They have also issued an identikit drawing of the man based on the description given by the "trusted witness".

Meanwhile Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann travelled to Spain to mark the three months since her abduction.