The holiday flat from which Madeleine McCann vanished is being put up for rental in the spring

THE holiday flat from which Madeleine McCann vanished is being put up for rental in the spring after attempts to sell it failed, writes James Murray.

The disappearance of the three-year-old on May 3, 2007, made Apartment 5a of the Ocean Club in Praia de Luz on the Algarve notorious and over the past three summers it has been empty.

A year later, the owner, Ruth McCann of Liverpool, who is not related to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, tried to sell the property. The asking price was about '225,000 but she had no luck.

A source said: 'It has been incredibly difficult for Ruth. She has money tied up in the property and needs to get it back.

'It was on the market for quite a time but there was never any real interest.

'Now it is hoped that people can finally move on and see the place as just a lovely apartment.

'The hope is that when some people rent it and the locals see that, then gradually people will stop associating the property with Madeleine.'

However, memories will be stirred up again on May 12 when Kate McCann publishes her book, Madeleine. She will undertake a round of interviews in Europe and America to try to keep the case in the public eye and to raise funds to continue the hunt for her lost daughter.