All the witnesses who came forward offering information about the missing youngster were waved away by indifferent officers in the Algarve.

The revelation was described as a 'disgrace' by friends of Kate and Gerry McCann, who are spearheading a renewed appeal to find their daughter two years after she vanished in Portugal.

Yesterday two private detectives employed by the couple were rebuffed as they tried to question paedophile Raymond Hewlett in his hospital bed in Germany.

Former soldier Hewlett, 62, who was living in the Algarve when Madeleine went missing and has a history of sex attacks on girls, hid in his room and refused to see the pair.

Hewlett, who has cancer, is one of several fresh leads that have flooded in to investigators in the past few weeks.

The McCanns are privately furious that the Portuguese police - who in theory are still in charge of the inquiry - have refused to accept new tip-offs.

A source close to the investigation said: 'In the last week, three or four people have approached the Portuguese police with information, and they were told not to worry them because the case was closed and she is dead.'

It is understood these people later gave their information directly to the McCanns' private detectives.

Although Portuguese prosecutors announced last year they were shelving the Madeleine case, Leicestershire Police still refer new leads to them and claim the Portuguese are still in charge of the inquiry.

A friend of the McCanns - both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire - said: 'It's a disgrace frankly, it's beyond frustrating. It is exactly the attitude that we have been up against for months.

Madeleine McCann: The revelation that Portuguese police have dismissed new leads was branded a 'disgrace' by friends of Kate and Gerry McCann
Investigation: Convicted paedophile, Raymond Hewlett, left, refused to see two private detectives employed by the McCanns while his wife, Marianna Schmuker played 'silly games' with the detectives

'They closed the inquiry and were not prepared to lift a finger.'

Two private detectives, former Detective Inspector Dave Edgar and former Detective Sergeant Arthur Cowley, employed by the McCanns flew to Aachen in Germany on Sunday night in an attempt to question Hewlett.

But when they visited the hospital yesterday, Hewlett - who has spent much of his life in jail or on the run from police - made it plain he had no intention of cooperating.

Mr Edgar said: 'If he's got nothing to hide, he should speak to us. It is a matter of urgency because of his medical condition.' 

Because Hewlett is not suspected of a crime in Germany, the authorities cannot compel him to cooperate - unless they receive a request from British Police.

However, West Yorkshire police have confirmed they are 'actively seeking' Hewlett in connection with an indecent assault on an eight-year-old in 1975.
 

The McCanns are privately furious that the Portuguese police have refused to accept new tip-offs

In the letters he told her she was his 'favourite girl, the only trouble is you grew up'.

Hewlett's son Wayne, 40, a builder, said he was savagely beaten by him as a child. Wayne cut all ties with his father 20 years ago, and said: 'He is a monster.'