Madeleine McCann’s mother has been upset by police plans to stage a reconstruction of the night her daughter disappeared from an Algarve holiday resort.

Kate and Gerry McCann, their friends and other holidaymakers have been called back to Portugal so that detectives can replicate events at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Times Online reported yesterday.

The reconstruction is planned for the middle of next month, shortly after the first anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3. Portuguese police have written to witnesses to ask them to attend.

“Kate is upset,” a friend of the McCanns said. “There’s been no sense of concern for her feelings or the anguish it will cause her. On an emotional level she is not sure she can go through with it. The family will consider it. If it’s felt that there’s a chance of it helping to find Madeleine then, of course, they will do it. But given it is a year on, you have to wonder about the value of it.”

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Mr and Mrs McCann have not been to the Algarve resort since they were made arguidos (official suspects) on September 7. Friends of the couple have indicated that they would refuse to return voluntarily unless they were formally cleared of any wrongdoing.

The reconstruction would involve dozens of people who were in Praia da Luz from the early afternoon of May 3 until Madeleine was reported missing from her bedroom at 10pm.

Events on the ground would be compared with the evidence from interviews with more than 50 people that are being carried out by British police this month.

Critics will see the reconstruction as a sign that investigators have no idea what happened to Madeleine, who disappeared days before her fourth birthday. Experts from Scotland Yard and Leicestershire Constabulary had advised Portuguese police to hold a reconstruction within weeks of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Mark Williams-Thomas, a former detective and now a child protection expert, said: “There is a point of doing a reconstruction a week after an event but what do they expect to get a year on?”

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said: “Any requests made by Portuguese police via Kate and Gerry’s lawyers are covered by Portuguese judicial secrecy and as a result I am not at liberty to discuss any details of any such proposals. However, Kate and Gerry would very much welcome a Crimewatch-style reconstruction, which is properly broadcast for millions of people to see and could generate important new leads.

“It’s untrue to say that Kate and Gerry have been called back or summoned back.”

Robert Murat, the other official suspect in the case, will take part in the reconstruction if he is asked to.

Seven British friends who were on holiday with the McCanns are being questioned at the headquarters of Leicestershire Constabulary this week. The interviews are being watched by the chief Portuguese investigator, Paulo Rebelo, and two other senior detectives from the PolÍcia Judiciária.

Apparent inconsistencies in their previous statements and the accounts of Mr and Mrs McCann have been identified. They have said that there are no differences and any minor discrepancies are to be expected.

The first witness interviewed yesterday was Jane Tanner, 36, from Exeter. She claimed to have seen a man carrying a girl from the McCanns’ apartment at about 9.15pm. Another witness says he was outside the flat at the same time but did not see her or the mystery man.

Mrs McCann, 40, and her husband, 39, from Rothley, Leicestershire, believe that Madeleine was abducted by a stranger.

What happened on May 3

10am Madeleine and her brother and sister left at the Kids’ Club while their parents go for a walk

12.30pm Kate and Gerry McCann collect children. They have lunch at their apartment before going to the Ocean Club swimming pool

2.29pm The last photograph of Madeleine is taken at the pool. The camera's clock reads 1.29pm, but the McCanns say it was out by one hour

3.30pm Children back at Kids’ Club

5.30pm Children have tea there

6pm Mrs McCann takes children back to apartment while husband starts an hour-long tennis lesson

6.30pm Mr McCann asks David Payne to check on Mrs McCann and children at the apartment

7pm Mr McCann returns and the children are put to bed

7.30pm Mr and Mrs McCann shower and change

8.35pm The McCanns are the first of the group to arrive at the tapas restaurant, 50 yards from their apartment

9.05pm Mr McCann returns to the apartment to check the children. He enters through unlocked patio doors and sees all three children asleep

9.08pm Walking back to the tapas restaurant Mr McCann sees Jeremy Wilkins on the opposite side of the road. They talk for several minutes

9.10pm Jane Tanner walks up the road unnoticed by Mr McCann and Mr Wilkins. She sees a man walking across the road in front of her carrying a girl in his arms

9.30pm Matthew Oldfield leaves tapas restaurant to check on the group’s children. He sees the twins in their cots but does not directly see Madeleine’s bed

10.00pm Mrs McCann finds bedroom window open. Twins are asleep but Madeleine’s bed is empty

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