Police investigating the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann have sealed off an area of scrubland in the Portuguese resort where the three-year-old went missing.
A photo of Madeleine McCann taken the day she went missing. Photo: AFP
The taped off area is in the Praia da Luz holiday resort in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, the BBC reported on Monday.
Detectives said in May this year that the seven-year search was heading towards "a substantial stage of activity".
Madeleine McCann disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant on 3 May 2007, prompting a global search.
British police began a review of the case in 2011 at the instigation of Prime Minister David Cameron following appeals from the girl's parents, and then launched their own investigation which has thrown up a number of leads.