MADELEINE McCann's parents are to ask a child psychologist how best to tell their other children that their sister has been abducted.

The news came as the family revealed they would be staying in Portugal until the end of the summer at least.

It is now 45 days since the four-year-old was snatched from the holiday apartment where the McCanns were staying. Despite a worldwide search and an unprecedented series of direct appeals for help, no trace of Madeleine has been found.

Yesterday, her father, Gerry McCann, said he and his wife, Kate, were all too aware that they would need to speak to their two-year-old twins, Amelie and Sean, about Madeleine.

"This has clearly dragged on and may continue to drag on and we do not want them to forget Madeleine and we want to speak to an expert about our ideas of how we handle it," he said. "We have not told the twins specifically that she has gone. They are too young at the minute, but as they get older we want to know how to answer their questions.

"Clearly, we are not going to hide the fact they have got an older sister. If they ask, we talk about her and say she has got her cuddly toy with her but kids are easily distracted. They recognise themselves on TV now... but they have not asked where she is."

Madeleine was taken in the Praia da Luz resort after being left asleep with her brother and sister in their beds, while their mother and father dined in a restaurant 100 yards away.

Last night, Mr McCann also spoke about the terror he felt when told his daughter's dead body might be lying hidden under rocks not far from where she was abducted.

He said: "When you hear something like this put together as a creditable letter giving information, then the immediate reaction is, 'Is there something to this?' The thought of a very public search with Madeleine coming out of it dead was extremely upsetting. Kate was not good.

"When we found out where the area was it crossed her mind to go up there, but that was not a good idea and we talked about rationalising it. Wednesday was a bad day, very uncomfortable and you brace yourself. When it seemed it may have some credibility - a body being found - it was very, very distressing."

The McCanns have visited various European capital cities to highlight their daughter's plight.

Mr McCann, a cardiologist, has been given compassionate leave until the end of next month from his job at Glenford General Hospital in Leicester, but admitted the family will eventually have to consider returning to the UK with or without Madeleine.

"The [hospital] Trust has been incredibly supportive but I will not be going back to work for the foreseeable future while Madeleine is still missing.

"Even if she comes back tomorrow, I will not be rushing back. We need to make sure that we look after Sean and Amelie and make sure they are provided for, so I still hope and pray that this is not going to be a long-term campaign."

But McCann said his wife was determined to stay in Portugal. "We are still thinking about when we have to go back to the UK, but Kate is adamant about staying at the minute.

"She feels very strongly attached here emotionally. I do not want to go home either. We feel protected here and at a time of high stress like this, further change will be more stressful.

"We get regular phone calls from British police - sometimes four or five times a day - about things being checked out that might make the media. We also meet the local police weekly."