Fresh searches in the hunt for Madeleine McCann have drawn to a close after three days of searching a remote reservoir in Portugal.

Briefing tents have been taken down and heavy machinery is being removed from the site.

A joint operation by Portuguese, German and British police spent three days scouring the Barragem do Arade, 31 miles away from where Maddie went missing in 2007.

Officers spent three days scouring a remote reservoir after ‘certain tips’ were given to German prosecutors about the case.

This morning police could be seen photographing the woodland where they had been digging, before a mixture of uniformed and plain-clothed officers did a sweep of the surrounding area.

Searches focused on a concentrated area of land on a peninsula of the reservoir, with officers digging with shovels yesterday afternoon.

After cutting back vast swathes of undergrowth and using rakes to sweep the reservoir’s banks, officers appeared to draw their work to a close at around 3.30pm UK time.

Earlier today police were seen photographing the woodland where they had been digging, before a mixture of uniformed and plain-clothed officers did a sweep of the surrounding area.

Two sniffer dogs were also used during the search.

The search has been carried out at the request of German investigators, who believe their prime suspect, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, kidnapped and murdered Maddie.

Bruecker is in prison in Germany for the rape of a woman in Praia da Luz in 2005, and is suspected of further rapes and child sexual abuse committed in the area between 2000 and 2017.

British officers from the Metropolitan Police were also present while the work was carried out in order to inform Madeleine’s parents of any developments.

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