OPRAH WINFREY - MCCANNS PURSUED BY US TV SHOWS

Kate and Gerry McCann have been asked to appear on two popular US television shows, according to their spokesman.

Clarence Mitchell, the representative of the parents of missing Madeleine McCann, said the Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters show had approached the couple for exclusive television interviews.

However he denied allegations that the shows were involved in a bidding war, adding that publicity efforts would only be conducted if the couple felt it would help locate their missing daughter.

Mr Mitchell said there was "categorically no truth" in reports of a competition between the two popular daytime television programmes for an appearance by the couple.

"Gerry and Kate will not be doing any sit-down interviews while they remain arguidos because of their legal position and this has been communicated clearly to any media, international or domestic, who are continuing to bid for interviews with them. Nor has any money for any such interview ever been discussed in any shape or form," he added.

A spokesperson for the company that produces the Oprah Winfrey show told the BBC that the show had been in contact with the McCanns but did not offer any payment to the couple as the as-yet-unconfirmed appearance was a news interview.

Previously the couple have issued two sketches of a man they believed to have kidnapped their four-year-old child from a resort in Portugal on May 3rd.

They have also denied reports that they had approved a film about their daughter's disappearance.