A BRITISH family caught up in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann say detectives have cleared them of any link to the case.

A hire car rented by solicitor James Gorrod just days before Madeleine was abducted in Portugal was one of ten seized by police last week as part of the hunt for the British four-year-old.

Gorrod, whose wife Charlotte gave birth to a son just three weeks ago, said rumours of their involvement in Madeleine's abduction had been very distressing for his "vulnerable" wife.

He said: "Having given birth to a baby boy three weeks ago, for this to happen at this time when she is so vulnerable, is distressing."

Property solicitor Gorrod, a then-heavily pregnant Charlotte and their two-year-old son took a last minute holiday in the same resort as the McCanns at the end of April, around the same time as Madeleine was taken.

They never met the couple and the first they knew of Madeleine's disappearance was when a note was pushed under the door of their holiday villa the following day.

Gorrod, a former Great Britain youth and junior level sailor, was drawn into the inquiry after Portuguese police discovered he had hired a car at Faro airport and asked for a child's seat.

In a statement released through Gorrod's Exeter-based legal firm, he said: "A British police officer directly liaising with the Portuguese investigation team recently contacted me to eliminate the vehicle I hired for a holiday with my wife and two-year son in Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared.

"The vehicle has been identified and I have been told by the British police officer that he has no plans to interview me or my family, and he does not expect me or my family to have any further involvement in the Madeleine McCann investigation."

The statement added: "We are, of course, deeply saddened by Madeleine's disappearance and hope for her safe return."

Earlier today Charlotte Gorrod said she was baffled Portuguese police had not spoken to them while they were on holiday even though they offered to help.

Speaking from the couple's home in Exeter, she told the Evening Standard newspaper: "My husband was on holiday with myself and our son who is aged two. And that is why we needed a baby seat.

"It was our last chance to have a holiday before I got too pregnant to fly.