A judge reviewing the evidence against Kate and Gerry McCann is reported to have refused to order the couple to return to Portugal for further police interviews about the suspected death of their daughter, Madeleine.

Judge Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias is said to have asked for the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, to be questioned instead by British police about the night their daughter disappeared from her Algarve holiday home.

Leicestershire police will be sent a list of all the questions that the Portuguese authorities want the McCanns to be asked, together with details of the related evidence, according to the Correio da Manhã newspaper.

It is has been claimed that the couple, both 39, will not be questioned again until the Polícia Judiciária has received the results of tests on all the samples collected from the family’s holiday apartment, hire car and other places.

Interviews could also be carried out with the seven British friends who were staying with the McCanns when Madeleine disappeared from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, 137 days ago. Officers have complained of a “pact of silence” within the group that has made it difficult to create a timeline of events on May 3.

Portuguese detectives are working with the Leicestershire investigation but it is unclear if they will take part in the interviews. A Portuguese police source is reported by Correio da Manhã to have said that there could now be a delay in the investigation as they prepare to make the formal request for the interview in Britain.

“What normally happens is that it takes a few days, or even weeks, because quite often it is not possible to translate judicial terms and the letters return with requests of clarification,” the source said.

Portuguese detectives passed a 4,000-page dossier of evidence against Mr and Mrs McCann to the Algarve-based public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses on Tuesday of last week. He immediately ordered that the then files should go before Judge Frias, who must rule on several requests by the prosecutors before Thursday.

A spokesman for the couple said today: “We have been in touch with our lawyers. They assure us we have had no requests to date for any further questioning, either from the Portuguese police or in the UK.”

Portuguese police are still attempting to put together a picture of the relationship between Mr and Mrs McCann and their three children. Mrs McCann, 39, told has told a Portuguese magazine that Madeleine, who disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday, could be difficult but strenuously denied any crime.

“The only thing I’ve ever be certain of in life is I’ve wanted to be a mum,” she told the latest edition of Flash! magazine. “The first six months of Maddie’s life was very difficult”, because the little girl “had lots of colic and cried practically for 18 hours and day. I had to permanently carry her around.”

Mrs McCann explained that although the time was difficult it created a strong bond with Madeleine before the birth of the twins, Sean and Amelie, now 2.

“She accepted the twins’ arrival very well. She managed to deal perfectly with this new reality although she herself at the time was still a baby,” said Mrs McCann.

Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist, used his internet blog to thank people who had written letters of support since the couple were made official suspects in the disappearance of their daughter.

Mr McCann wrote: “It means so much to us to know that so many people have not been deceived by rumour, innuendo and wild speculation. Most importantly the search for Madeleine carries on and our family have not given up hope of finding her.”

It was confirmed today that Clarence Mitchell, a former senior BBC journalist, has been appointed as the McCanns’ official spokesman.

He was sent to Portugal by the Foreign Office as chief adviser to the McCanns shortly after their daughter was reported missing, before his return to the UK in June. Part of his new brief will involve studying the Portuguese press after concerns from the family about a series of negative newspaper reports.

Meanwhile, the official spokesman for the Polícia Judiciária has left the inquiry team. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa has said that there was no need for a police spokesman as the case was now being handled by the office of the Public Prosecutor.

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