Kate and Gerry axed PR expert Clarence Mitchell after nine years as they face uncertainty over the future of the £12million investigation

The parents of Madeleine McCann have dumped their spokesman in a bid to reduce spiralling costs.

Kate and Gerry axed PR expert Clarence Mitchell after nine years as they face uncertainty over the future of the £12million investigation – codenamed Operation Grange – into the disappearance of their daughter.

Kate and Gerry have just five more weeks of guaranteed Government funding towards the search.

The couple have vowed to use money from the official fund to continue the probe themselves, saying: “We will continue to do everything we can to help find our daughter. Our hope and resolve continues.”

Mr Mitchell was told his “services were no longer needed” in an email from heart doctor Gerry, who explained the family had to “cut costs”.

The Tory MP hopeful and former BBC journalist, who has helped keep Maddie’s disappearance in the global spotlight, was said to be “hurt” but respects their “more pressing agenda”.

The fund stands at £480,000, but the McCanns face a £434,000 libel bill to ex-Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral.

It is the first time since the three-year-old vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz, in May 2007, that the family have not had an official spokesman.

Mr Mitchell told the Mirror last night: “It makes perfect sense for Kate and Gerry to keep careful consideration over all their costs. I will continue to help them as circumstances require.”

Former GP Kate and Gerry, both 48, are bracing themselves for Scotland Yard shelving the investigation on October 5. Officers have said there is now only one lead “worth pursuing”.