British police have held meetings with Portuguese police chiefs to discuss the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the first meetings to take place between the two authorities as part of a new review into the case by British police.

In a statement, a spokesman from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said: ?MPS officers travelled to Portugal at the beginning of August and had their first meeting with Portuguese authorities to discuss ways to progress the investigation review.?

It was confirmed that 30 senior officers travelled to Portugal ?as a means of taking the review of the case forward?.

A review into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was called for in May by the British Home Secretary Theresa May.

Meanwhile, Madeleine, the book written by Kate McCann about the disappearance of her daughter, has now been released in Brazil and is also due for release in Germany today (Friday).

In one of the interviews given by Kate and Gerry McCann in Germany, they talk of the case and their continued hope that their daughter will be found alive.

Speaking to the German paper Stern, Kate McCann explained why the couple continue to give interviews to the media about the case.  She said: ?We believe that it (media exposure) will help us to find our daughter.  Believe me, we would prefer to be able to withdraw from the public eye completely but as long as it could help us to find Madeleine, we will continue.?

Gerry McCann added that they were happy that the case was now being investigated by UK police: ?We are very happy that Scotland Yard was given permission by the Portuguese to undergo a re-examination of the records. We will not stop investigating until Madeleine is found.?