Police 'Given Up' On Maddy McCann?

The parents of missing British toddler, Madeleine McCann, have accused the police of "giving up" the search.

Gerry and Kate McCann have lashed out in an interview on ITV's GMTV breakfast show , just days before they mark the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.

Their daughter disappeared in Portugal three years ago from a holiday flat on May 3, 2007.

Mr McCann said his "innocent, vulnerable" daughter had been "essentially given up on" by British authorities.

The couple have spent £2 million of public donations funding their own search for Madeleine after becoming frustrated at the lack of progress by Portuguese and UK police.

Mr McCann said he and his wife wanted a full government review of all the information about their daughter's disappearance to help move the investigation forward.

"It's not right that an innocent, vulnerable British citizen is given up on," Mr McCann said in the interview.

He added: "I don't think it's right that, as parents, that we have to drive the search.

"Of course we can search, but not everyone has had the same resources and support that we have had to be able to do that.

"And I think it's pretty cruel."

Madeleine was three when she disappeared from the flat where she was left sleeping with her young twin brother and sister in Praia da Luz while their parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Mr McCann said if they could turn back time they would never have left their children by themselves in the flat.

"If we could turn back the clock and change what happened, obviously we wouldn't have done it," he said.

"We can't. And what I would say is, you know, people have got to put themselves into our position.

"What would you do if it was your daughter? After this, what would you do?"

Ms McCann said that with Madeline's seventh birthday approaching on May 12, she found that date harder to cope with than the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance.

"Her birthday is actually a much more difficult day for us than May 3," she said.

"May 3 really is just another day without Madeleine, but the 12th is, obviously, a day when we should be celebrating Madeleine, celebrating with Madeleine."

Despite the lack of progress in the search for their daughter, the McCanns remain hopeful that she will be found one day.

(LB/BMcC)