Police say the search for Madeleine has almost reached an end

The police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has almost reached its conclusion, Portugal's justice minister said on Wednesday.

Alberto Costa told a parliamentary committee hearing in Lisbon that Portuguese police were "at a stage now where we are approaching the conclusion of the process."

Four-year-old Madeleine vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said the only satisfactory conclusion for her parents Kate and Gerry would be Madeleine being found and reunited with her family.

He said: "I am not going to react specifically to what the justice minister has said to parliament.

"However, if the case is coming to a conclusion, we hope it will conclude shortly with the finding of Madeleine and her being reunited with her parents.

"That is the only satisfactory conclusion for us."

It is now 286 days since Madeleine went missing from her family's holiday apartment in the seaside resort of Praia da Luz while her parents dined with friends at a nearby Tapas restaurant.

Gerry and Kate McCann remain arguidos - formal suspects - in the disappearance of their daughter.

Last week Alipio Rebeiro, national director of Portugal's Policia Judiciaria (PJ), admitted detectives were too hasty in making the couple suspects over their daughter's disappearance, raising hopes that the McCanns would be eliminated from police enquiries.

However, Mr Rebeiro's admission also prompted fears that that the case is set to be archived due to a lack of evidence.

Portuguese detectives are still investigating the theory that Madeleine died by accident in the holiday apartment, and that her parents later hid her body.

The McCanns have always insisted she was abducted.