Robert Murat, a formal suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, will be given more than half a million pounds in libel damages by British media outlets, according to reports today.

Mr Murat launched the libel action after dozens of stories implicated him in the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished last May from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

In April, lawyers said that the British expatriate, who lived in Portugal, had launched libel actions against 11 newspapers and one television network which had made allegations against him.

Today there are unconfirmed media reports suggesting that Mr Murat has reached a settlement with at least some of those companies.

It is thought that he will receive around £550,000 in a settlement to be formally heard at the High Court on Thursday.

Mr Murat was named a formal suspect or arguido by Portuguese police during their investigation, but officers completed their inquiries at the start of this month without charging anyone.

Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, were similarly given arguido status in the course of the investigation but have never faced any charges.

They also successfully sued over accusations made against them in the British press.

Two newspapers published front page apologies to the couple, and paid “very substantial” damages. The Express newspaper group paid £550,000 to the Find Madeleine campaign, and the Daily Express and Daily Star issued front-page apologies admitting the stories were inaccurate.

A spokeswoman for Mr Murat told the BBC today that the settlement and written apology had been agreed with 11 newspapers.

In their April statement, his lawyers had named the Sun, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Mail, London Evening Standard, Metro, Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, News of the World and the Scotsman.

Mr Murat was questioned by police 11 days after Madeleine went missing on May 3, 2007. Police searched the villa near the McCann’s holiday apartment where he lived with his mother after a journalist spoke to the British Embassy and the police about him.

He had become known to journalists while dozens of members of the British media were in Praia da Luz in the wake of Madeleine’s disappearance. He had told them he had been helping police with translation work during the search.

Last month, Mr Murat said that his computers had been returned to him by the police, which he hoped would signal the end of his arguido status.

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