Police spent £11m hunting for Madeleine McCann – but need more cash to pursue final lead

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are poised to ask for further funds to help them continue with their six-year investigation.

Scotland Yard have struggled in recent months to resolve a final lead but more money is required to complete the last stage of the investigation.

The Home Office is understood to be willing to continue to fund the investigation, known as Operation Grange, according to Sky News. The current £11m fund is set to run dry at the end of September.

Madeleine McCann was aged four when she vanished from her family holiday apartment in May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Police in Portugal ended their investigation in late 2008 after all their leads dried up.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, appealed in 2011 for then Prime Minister David Cameron to ask Scotland Yard to investigate.

In 2015, the 30-man team who were on the case was reduced to three by the then Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, with the expectation of drawing to a close the final leads within months.

In April 2017, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "We have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer - but until we've gone through it I won't know whether we are going to get there or not."

No details about the final lead have been given with some suspicions that it could involve a hunt for a specific suspect or witness.

A spokesman for Madeleine's family said: "The McCanns will be pleased. The fact that the police feel there is still work to be done which needs funding is very encouraging. They remain grateful to all the officers involved in the investigation."

"The level of funding provided is a reflection of the wide-ranging and complex nature of the investigation which the police have deemed necessary to undertake," a spokesperson said.