McCanns pleased at renewed Madeleine search

Kate and Gerry McCann have said they are "very pleased" that significant activity has taken place in Praia da Luz over the last 10 days.

The McCanns said the fact that no trace of their daughter Madeleine has been found reinforces their belief that she could still be alive.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeline McCann say there is 'still a substantial amount of work to be completed in the coming weeks and months' as they continue their search.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Grange, has so far failed to find any new evidence relating to the youngster despite scouring a 'horse shaped' shaped piece of waste ground west of Praia da Luz for eight days.

They said they were acting on 'just one hypothesis that she was killed and buried locally.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "This was the first phase of the investigation which has been agreed with the Portuguese. More activity has been agreed and we expect that to commence shortly.

"There is still a substantial amount of work yet to be completed in the coming weeks and months, which again should be viewed as no more than normal operational activity in a case of this size and complexity. "

The deployment is the "largest ever undertaken by UK police overseas in a case of this type" with a total of 60,000 square metres of land searched, including all utilities, drainage channels and derelict buildings.

Scotland Yard said that "no evidence relating to Madeleine McCann has been identified" following an eight-day search in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

The Yard said: "More activity has been agreed and we expect that to commence shortly."

The search by police investigating Madeline McCann's disappearance in Portugal has finished for the day and will resume tomorrow.

ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports from Praia da Luz.

ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports from Praia da Luz.

ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports from Praia da Luz:

Read: Madeleine McCann police search second site in Portugal

Graffiti describing British police as "stupid" has appeared on a wall opposite an area being investigated as part of the search for Madeleine McCann.

Read: Madeleine McCann police start new search in Portugal

Sniffer dogs are being used on a new site being investigated by British police near where Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal seven years ago.

A fresh area of land was cordoned off by police in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz athis morning.

Two sniffer dogs from South Wales Police were seen with their handlers inside the cordon and appeared to be concentrating on a small area which has been marked out with police tape inside.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are being "realistic rather than optimistic" in their expectations, ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler has said.

Specialist teams spent last week investigating an area of land a few minutes walk from the resort where Madeleine was staying with her family, and have cordoned off a new search area today.

Martin Geissler reports: "The big site we assume yielded nothing last week. There was a definite sense of disappointment among the British and Portuguese investigating teams and they've now moved on.

"We think the second site will be searched and possibly exhausted by the end of the day, they'll move onto site three tomorrow and if necessary they'll continue that investigation until Friday.

"I think they are realistic rather than optimistic in their expectations from now on. That begs the question - if they find nothing here then what next for the Madeleine McCann investigation?"