Scotland Yard receives 400 calls and emails after new Madeleine McCann appeal

British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have received 400 calls and emails from the public since launching a fresh appeal for information.

Specialist officers working on the case are assessing and prioritising each one, in the hope that new information could help to finally solve what happened to the young girl 13 years ago.

In an extraordinary statement on Wednesday evening, the Metropolitan Police said that in 2017 they had received information about a German man who was known to have been in and around Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance ten years before.

After working with German and Portuguese police for three years, they said that they had identified a prime suspect, describing him as a slim white man with short blond hair, adding that he was already in prison in Germany.

That man was later revealed to be serial sex offender Christian Brückner.

Now, people in the UK, Germany and Portugal have been asked if they remember the man, who lived in a distinctive VW T3 Westfalia campervan, and also had a 1993 Jaguar XJR.

The police also took the unusual step of releasing two Portuguese phone numbers.

The first number is +351 912 730 680 and investigators believe it belongs to the suspect, who was in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

He received a call starting at 7.32pm and finishing at 8.02pm on the night Madeleine went missing

The second mobile number, which made the call to the suspect is +351 916 510 683. This person was not in the area of Praia da Luz at the time.

Investigators believe the person who made this call is a highly significant witness and are appealing for them to get in touch.

While the Metropolitan Police received 270 calls and emails within 24 hours, and say they are “pleased with the amount of calls and emails coming in”, officials in Germany have not had any new leads.

In 2013, on a special edition of their version of Crimewatch, in which Kate and Gerry McCann appeared in person, 500 people called in - some identifying Brückner as a suspect.

But since Wednesday, when the police presented new details on the case, it has been reported that there has been no new credible information from the calls they have received.

A statement is expected from Hans Christian Wolters, the Braunschweig public prosecutor, on Monday.

In Germany, the Madeleine McCann case is being treated as a murder investigation.

“The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder. From this you can see that we assume that the girl is dead,” Mr Wolters said.

In Britain, there is still hope that Madeleine, who would have just turned 17, is still alive.

“This remains a missing person inquiry,” said the Met.

“Our job as detectives is to follow the evidence, maintain an open mind and establish what happened on that day in May 2007.

“Please contact us without delay so we can get answers for Madeleine’s family.”