A BLOODY footprint found in the apartment rented by Kate and Gerry McCann matched a print on their hire car, a forensic report shown to The Mail on Sunday newspaper reveals .

The existence of the marks is thought to be central to renewed suspicion of the couple over the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter, Madeleine.

Testing by Birmingham's Forensic Science Service laboratory reveals there is a "moderate" chance the blood was Madeleine's but the results were inconclusive.

The investigation into Madeleine's disappearance has been punctuated by speculation over DNA and , until now, there has been confusion surrounding what samples had been found and how important they might be.

Part of the report reveals officers who examined the McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve after Madeleine vanished on May 3 found a "partial footwear mark", said to be from a size five or six shoe, outside the bedroom.

It added that it "appeared to have a blood imprint" visible to the naked eye.

The test results said the footprint was a match for the pattern of a mark found above the rear bumper of the McCanns' hire car, a print which police in Portugal apparently believe is consistent with someone lifting a body in or out of the boot.

Investigators found no traces of blood in that print, but blood in the footprint at the apartment was tested for DNA.

The DNA test results are rated on an eight-point scale: no scientific evidence, limited, moderate, moderately strong, strong, very strong, extremely strong and conclusive.

Ttests showed only  "moderate" support - No.3 on the scale - to suggest it matched Madeleine McCann's DNA.

But what scientists believe is significant is that no traces of blood were found around the print.

"It is quite possible, therefore, that the blood had been picked up on the sole of the shoe from outside the apartment, from literally anywhere," a source close to the investigation said.

The source said there was concern that Portuguese investigators had already placed too much importance to the results.