Madeleine McCann's parents should leave Portugal and go home, according to the lawyer for the only official suspect in the case of the missing four-year-old.

Francisco Pagarete said people in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz wanted the couple to go because they were suffering financially from a dip in tourism.

He said locals think the McCanns "should just go away and leave this town. They are giving it a bad name."

He also criticised Kate and Gerry's "strange" behaviour in leaving the youngster alone on the night of May 3 - when she disappeared.

The McCanns have recently come under increasing pressure from the Portuguese media, who say police now think she was not abducted but died in their holiday apartment.

The couple have ended their daily routine of taking their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the creche at the Ocean Club resort.

It comes after concerns about photographers taking pictures of their children and disturbing holidaymakers using the child-minding facility.

Kate McCann has insisted her family will not leave without Madeleine.

Mr Pagarete said he thought it was weird that the McCanns would leave their children alone in a foreign country.

The couple, who were dining with friends nearby at the time, have defended their actions, saying it was safe to leave them alone and they were "at worst" naive.

Mr Pagarete told the Evening Standard: "I think it's not normal for someone to leave their kids alone. It's not attacking the McCanns in any way, but it's not the normal thing to do."

Meanwhile, police no longer think that Murat was involved, according to the reports.

DNA analysis of blood traces found in the holiday apartment is now being carried out at a Birmingham laboratory.

One paper has even suggested police "intercepted" emails and phone calls between parents Kate and Gerry McCann and the friends on holiday with them when Madeleine vanished.

Family friends have said they are disgusted about what they said was a smear campaign against them.