MADELEINE McCann's mother submitted herself to a drugs test to counter accusations that she was on medication when her daughter vanished, her lawyer said yesterday.

Kate McCann agreed to the tests to refute claims that she was mentally unstable and taking anti-depressants around the time of the child's disappearance in Portugal on 3 May, said Edward Smethurst.

One line of inquiry reportedly pursued by Portuguese police was that Mrs McCann, a qualified GP, had killed Madeleine, now four, because she was "struggling to cope".

Toxicology tests on Mrs McCann's hair in September showed no evidence of drugs in her body over the past eight months, said Mr Smethurst.

"The kind of drugs she might be on did not show up," he said.

The tests form part of a dossier of evidence compiled by the McCanns - named as suspects by the Portuguese police - and their advisers, which they claim demolishes the case against them.