KATE and Gerry McCann today said they will make a “poignant”  visit to Liverpool to raise awareness of the search for their daughter Madeleine.

The couple will return to Kate’s home city on Sunday  to take part in the RunLiverpool 10k.

Tomorrow marks the five-year anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance on a family holiday in the Algarve on May 3 2007, aged nearly four. And her family say they have renewed hope the she will be found alive.

Allerton-raised Kate said:  “We’re really pleased to be taking part in the RunLiverpool 10K this coming weekend.

“It's something we’ve considered over previous years, but given the poignant timing for our family, we’ve never quite felt strong enough.

“Thankfully this year, with the involvement of the Metropolitan Police, things are looking brighter for Madeleine and the search, so we’re ready to give it a go.

“Thank you to everyone in Liverpool again for your brilliant support over the past five years. It’s appreciated so much by all of our family and friends.”

Kate’s parents Susan and Brian Healy, who live in Allerton, are expected to be in Sefton Park to watch their daughter and son-in-law take part in the women’s and men’s races. They will both be running in aid of the Find Madeleine Fund.

The couple’s renewed confidence in the search for their daughter comes after  the officer leading Scotland Yard’s review of the original investigation into her disappearance spoke last week of his belief  the case can still be solved and said there is evidence she could still be alive.

Yesterday it was reported that a taxi driver  believes he picked up Madeleine the night after she vanished, but  Portuguese police ignored his report. Antonio Castela, 72, claims  three men, a woman and a young girl resembling Madeleine got into his cab on the evening of May 3 2007 in Monte Gordo in the Algarve,  about an hour’s drive from Praia da Luz, where the youngster vanished.

He said he  drove the group two miles to the Hotel Apolo in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, where they drove away in a blue jeep.

Mr Castela  has reportedly said: “After I went to the police, I never heard anything from them again.”

Kate and Gerry said they have “no doubt” the Portuguese authorities will eventually reopen the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance.

Police in Portugal said last week  they had found “no new element” to justify re-launching their inquiry into how the little girl vanished on a family holiday to the Algarve in May 2007, aged nearly four.

But the McCanns added their voices to calls from Scotland Yard for the case to be reopened. 

Gerry , 43, said: “I think the most important thing is that a lot of the investigation opportunities are in Portugal.

“I think it’s fairly clear that the case will have to be reopened for those to be pursued adequately. I have no doubt about that. It will get reopened.”

Kate  McCann’s book about Madeleine’s disappearance has sold nearly 400,000 copies and raised up to £1m for the fund to find her.

A paperback edition with a new epilogue will be published on May 10.

A Mass is being said at 7.30  tomorrow night at Our Lady of the Annunciation, Bishop Eton, in Woolton Road, Childwall, to  mark the fifth  anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.