McCanns Demand Action

Leicestershire couple Kate and Gerry McCann said they have had enough of "fluffy worthless words", calling again for a full case review over their daughter Madeleine's disappearance.

Exactly three-and-a-half years since Madeleine went missing, the Rothley couple said they want "action" and for "somebody to do something".

They launched a petition to lobby the UK and Portuguese governments for a joint or independent review of the case.

"Essentially for the last three-and-a-half years the authorities have not been doing anything proactive to help Madeleine," Mr McCann said. "That is despite our best efforts to encourage them to do so.

"I don't think it's right that the onus should fall on us, the authorities really should be doing more."

His wife said: "I don't want to be appeased and that's what I feel we're getting at the moment. We need action, I don't need fluffy worthless words. We need somebody to do something. Madeleine is still missing, she's a little girl, her abductor is still out there, so by not carrying on we are putting other children at risk. I think more needs to be done."

The couple have met with former home secretaries Alan Johnson and Jacqui Smith, as well as current Home Secretary Theresa May, to discuss the issue and to ask for a review of the case.

Mrs McCann said when they met Mr Johnson, who commissioned a "scoping exercise" by Ceop to see if a review would be helpful, they felt they were making progress, but now did not even know if the report had been read.

"There has not been a formal case review and I think for such a serious case like this, and with the profile of it and international aspects, that should be carried out," her husband said. "The onus is on the UK and Portuguese authorities to sort that out. I think the best thing is for this case to be solved, and at the moment the authorities are not doing anything proactive to try and do that."

Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her parents dined with friends nearby.