Toddler's parents fear Algarve abduction

The parents of a three-year-old British girl who went missing last night while on a family holiday in Portugal fear she has been abducted.

Portuguese police were today searching for Madeline McCann who disappeared from the family's rented apartment while her parents Gerry and Katie dined at a tapas restaurant 200 yards away.

The family, who live in the village of Rothley, Leicestershire, are staying at the Mark Warner Ocean Summer Club holiday complex in the fishing village of Praia da Luz in the western Algarve.

The McCanns returned after their meal, shortly before 10pm, and found the door and window wide open and Madeline gone.

The couple, who are both doctors, also have two-year-old twins, a girl and a boy, who were in the room with Madeline when she disappeared.

Assisted by sniffer dogs, police, who started the search last night, were today continuing to comb the resort and the village. Detectives were also speaking to guests at the resort, asking if they had seen anyone acting suspiciously last night.

Speaking in Liverpool, the girl's grandfather, Brian Healy, said: "We're worried sick, as you can imagine. It's a very distressing time."

Gill Renwick, a family friend, told GMTV that the distraught parents were certain that Madeline had been abducted. "They were just watching the hotel room and going back every half-hour."

She said the parents went out about 8pm, checked on the children at 9pm and then when they "went back in at 10pm she was gone".

Ms Renwick said: "She's obviously been taken as she couldn't have gone out on her own and the shutters had been forced open." However, the manager at the Mark Warner resort, John Hill, said there was no definite physical evidence that the girl had been abducted. "It's still questionable as to whether it's an abduction," he said. "We are hoping that Madeline is found as soon as possible and safe and well."

The hotel said it did offer families a baby-sitting service, where parents can drop off their children for the night. There is a crèche above the hotel's reception which is open from 7pm to 11.30pm. "Those facilities were available but for whatever reason they were not being used," a Mark Warner spokesman said.

Speaking to the BBC later, Ms Renwick said the McCanns, who had been holidaying with three other British families, had felt let down by police in Portugal. "I spoke to them this morning and they said the police had done nothing overnight and they felt as if they'd been left on their own. They just don't know where to turn."

However, Mr Hill said the police had been doing all they could. He said around 60 staff and guests at the complex had searched until 4.30am while police notified border police, Spanish police and airports.

"There is a criminal investigator here in charge of the situation and around 20 officers but unfortunately there is still no information," Mr Hill said. "If I was in the McCanns' situation, I would be frustrated as hell if there were 100 police here - I would still be frustrated and want more."

The spokesman said the apartment the family were staying in was surrounded by other apartments, all of which have "quite sophisticated" locks on the doors.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) in the UK was liaising with Leicestershire police and other forces.

British officials are also in contact with the Portuguese chief of police. The spokesman said two officials from the British Consulate in Portimao were with the family, assisting them as they dealt with the Portuguese police.

Ms Renwick described the missing girl as a "very pretty, very blonde three-year-old". Madeline was said to have been wearing white pyjamas when she went missing.

The resort consists of individual villa-style accommodation mixed with small bars, restaurants, cafes, boutiques and shops. It has three private areas with their own pool, bar and cafe or restaurant, and is close to the sandy beach where hundreds of tourists descend each year.

Colleagues of Dr McCann, who is a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, said they were still hoping for the best. Dr Doug Skehan said: "The mood in the hospital is one of great concern and we hope that Kate and Gerry will have their daughter back very soon."

In Rothley, neighbour Penny Noble said she believed Madeleine was due to start at school in September. She said: "They are a really nice family and good neighbours. They are delightful. We see them take their bikes up and down and going for walks. Madeleine is a very happy-go-lucky little girl."