Lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann have started trawling through the Portuguese police files on Madeleine's disappearance.

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the legal team had been notified by the authorities in Portugal that they could start studying the documents.

More than 20,000 pages make up the files compiled by police in Portimao since Madeleine vanished during a holiday in the Algarve last May.

Mr Mitchell said: This is an important step forward in the search for Madeleine.'
 

 

The files were released to the McCanns' lawyers after they were finally cleared earlier this month of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

The legal team started the process to get their hands on the documents as soon as the couple were cleared.
 

The McCanns are said to be using international investigators including Spanish-based agency Metodo 3 and British-based private detectives.
 

They had been 'arguidos' or formal suspects for 10 months but Portugal's Attorney General admitted last week that there was no evidence of any criminal activity.

A third suspect, British ex-pat Robert Murat, was also cleared.