Madeleine: Portuguese police to re-examine burglaries at resort

The under-fire Portuguese police are preparing to take a fresh look at reports of two earlier break-ins in the apartment block where Madeleine McCann and her family stayed.

Both burglaries - one in the apartment directly above the McCann's flat - are understood to have happened two weeks before the family of five arrived at the Mark Warner Ocean Club in Praia da Luz.

One was believed to have been committed by someone with a key to the burgled apartment.

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A room at the Mark Warner Ocean Club. At least one of the burglaries may have been committed by someone who had a key to the rooms

It is also understood that the description given by two witnesses of a man spotted on the night of one of the burglaries is similar to the description given by a friend of the McCanns who said she saw a man carrying a child in his arms the night Madeleine went missing.

The police are now set to re-interview a number of witnesses from the Ocean Club, a source close to the Policia Judiciaria said, in order to "clarify details that may be relevant to the new line of inquiry, in the light of facts we have found".

Pamela Fenn says she 'scared off' an intruder who had broken into her apartment

Among them will be ex-pat Pamela Fenn, a widow in her 70s. She claims she "scared off" an intruder who had broken into her apartment in the days before the McCanns arrived to stay in the holiday flat directly below her.

Mrs Fenn has told friends she heard a noise as she watched television and found a man escaping through her bedroom window. Her niece, who was staying with her, also saw the man.

The widow reported the incident to police but claims no one contacted her after Madeleine vanished - until two weeks ago, when British detectives called on her.

Mrs Fenn's niece is travelling to Portugal from the UK next week to be interviewed by the Policia Judiciaria.

Mrs Fenn said: "I will speak to the police on Monday."

The alleged break-in is said to have happened within days of a second burglary in the same block.

A Scottish holidaymaker said that on the first night of her stay, she and a friend returned to the flat to find their belongings and £500 worth of foreign money had been taken.

But there was no sign of forced entry at the second floor apartment and police called to the scene told the middle-aged book-keeper that they believed someone with a key was the most likely suspect, sparking concerns about security at the complex.

Detectives are understood to be waiting for the results of DNA tests on blood samples before re-interviewing Kate and Gerry McCann and their party of friends.

There were two burglaries at the Mark Warner Ocean Club days before Madeleine was abducted