MADELEINE McCann’s dad Gerry yesterday said a police review of her case was “a huge step” in the effort to help trace his ­missing daughter.

A team of detectives in ­Portugal have been appointed to re-examine the original investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance almost five years ago.

It follows a review by ­Metropolitan Police officers which began last May.

Gerry said: “It’s taken ­pressure off us, knowing the police are reviewing ­everything. It’s a huge step for us.”

Madeleine was four when she vanished during a holiday at the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007 as her ­parents dined nearby.

A botched inquiry by ­Portuguese police, which at one point named Gerry and wife Kate as suspects, was shelved in 2008.

The new team will go over thousands of pages of case files to search for new leads.

Gerry and Kate were taking part in a 10 kilometre run for a missing person’s charity in London yesterday.

Also there were the father of missing York chef Claudia ­Lawrence and the sister of rock star Richey Edwards, who ­disappeared in 1995.