British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have arrived at the scrubland at the centre of their inquiries for a third day.
Officers in Metropolitan Police uniform were driven to the edge of the cordoned-off area in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in unmarked vans before walking on to the site, which has been a scene of activity over the past two days.
They were accompanied by Portuguese police officers, while local forestry workers also returned for a second day in a truck loaded with strimmers.
Officers are being overseen by the Met’s Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior officer investigating the case, who has also flown out to Portugal.
He declined to comment to reporters when he arrived at the scene today.
Yesterday he watched as his officers carried out fingertip searches in the undergrowth, scouring the ground for clues to what happened to Madeleine, three, who disappeared in May 2007.
Sniffer dogs from South Wales Police that were used during the search for murdered schoolgirl April Jones in 2012 were also seen bounding around the site.
Police have also been granted permission to investigate two others areas of land, it is understood. One of these is believed to be even closer to the holiday apartment where the McCann family were staying.
But they have been given a deadline of Friday and it is understood that if nothing of significance is found before then, they must stop.