Madeleine's Mother Tells of Regret As Police Search Suspect's Garden

Detectives searching for four-year-old Madeleine McCann were yesterday searching the garden at the home of the only official suspect in the case.

Police have cleared undergrowth and cut down trees at Robert Murat's house in Praia da Luz, Portugal, a few yards from the resort where Madeleine was snatched more than three months ago.

The renewed search comes as Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, spoke about her regret at leaving her daughter on the night she disappeared.

"We are just so desperately sorry," she said. As she put Madeleine to bed on the night she went missing, the three-year-old had told her: "Mummy, I've had the best day ever. I'm having lots and lots of fun."

The villa which Mr Murat shares with his mother, Jenny, was first raided by police on May 14, 11 days after Madeleine went missing. Several items were taken away for analysis, while Mr Murat's girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch, and her estranged Portuguese husband, Luis Antonio, were also interviewed as witnesses.

Mr Murat, who was born in the UK, was named as an official arguido, meaning suspect or defendant, but was never formally arrested. He was reinterviewed in July by police.

The latest search in Portugal comes as police in Belgium continue to investigate a possible sighting of Madeleine.

A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100% sure" she had seen the youngster.

She said the girl was with a couple, a Dutch man and an English-speaking woman, who were acting strangely and not like "normal parents".

Results of DNA tests on a drinks bottle used by the girl are expected this week.