MISSING Madeleine McCann's parents have been given new hope after a secret meeting with the Home Secretary, The Sun can reveal.

Kate and Gerry McCann spent more than an hour on Wednesday with Theresa May to beg the new government to help them.

And they left the meeting "more optimistic than ever".

A source close to the couple said: "They asked for help in furthering the hunt for Madeleine. They have not given up on her and they don't want the Government to either. They especially want help in putting pressure on the Portuguese government to agree to a joint British-Portuguese review of the case.

"They feel there may be clues and leads that could have been missed."

Just before the election in May, the couple met David Cameron who pledged that if elected Prime Minister he would do whatever he could to help them.

A Home Office source said yesterday: "Kate and Gerry were given renewed hope that their daughter will be found.

"With the might of the coalition Government behind them, they left looking more optimistic than ever that every effort is still being made to find Madeleine."

Maddie went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, when she was three.

A private investigation team employed by the McCanns now continues the hunt for her.
a.lazzeri@the-sun.co.uk