MISSING toddler Madeleine McCann was left alone by her parents for three hours a night at a Portuguese holiday resort, a waiter has claimed.

Jose Baptista worked at the tapas bar Kate and Gerry McCann regularly dined at along with three other couples in Praia da Luz during their holiday earlier this year.

Gerry McCann used to check on Madeleine and her younger brother and sister every 20 minutes while the rest of the group ate together for four nights, he told The Sun newspaper.

The only time Kate McCann left to check on the children was the night of May 3, when the four-year-old toddler went missing.

"There was a big round table near the pool,"Mr Baptista told the newspaper.

"The McCanns and their friends had it every night. They obviously thought it was fine to leave the children in bed.

"They left their children alone for up to three hours every night. If I was in their position I wouldn't have done that.

"Even though they were checking on their children, there was a lot of time they were alone, when someone could have taken them.

"The routine was set in stone. If somebody had been watching they would have been able to choose the right moment to take the child."

Madeleine disappeared on May 3 while she slept in the room of a holiday apartment with her younger twin siblings.

Her parents have repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance, but have been declared suspects in the case.

Mr Baptista said the McCanns and their friends drank eight to 10 bottles of wine the night Madeleine vanished.

He said he remembered Kate McCann went to check on the children that night, the only time he saw her do so.

"It had been a normal night. Then it became madness," he said.

Portuguese police are preparing to fly to Britain re-interview the couples who dined with the McCanns the night Madeleine disappeared.