The first full account of Madeleine McCann’s final hours before she disappeared was offered last night. After months of speculation about whether Kate and Gerry McCann had an opportunity to kill their three-year-old daughter and hide her body, a source close to the couple attempted to explain what happened on May 3. Under Portuguese law, the McCanns, who are both 39-year-old doctors, have been unable to counter allegations made by the Portuguese police.

Detectives believe that there are inconsistencies in their story when it is compared with the accounts of their seven friends who were on holiday with them in the Algarve.

Senior detectives have suggested that there was a six-hour period in which the movements of Madeleine and her parents at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz are unclear. A photograph was taken of the child at 2.29pm at the pool of the resort and, according to police, it is unclear what happened from then until 8.30pm when Mrs McCann sat down to dinner with her friends at the tapas bar.

A Polícia Judiciária source said that the details of Mrs McCann’s afternoon was the focus of their inquiry.

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The McCann family friend said: “Madeleine went to the kids’ club in the afternoon, after the photograph was taken at the pool. There are written records and witnesses.

“Madeleine was there while Kate and Gerry played tennis with the tennis professional and other witnesses. She had high tea at 5.30pm with staff at the kids’ club. She was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and Gerry.

“After that Kate and Gerry went home, got the kids ready for bed and got ready to go out for their meal.

“Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. There were always other witnesses present.” The source added: “These details were all given to detectives during police interviews, so they know what Kate and Gerry said happened that day.”

The latest account of what happened on May 3 emerged after a restaurant owner in the resort claimed to have seen the couple having tea with their daughter.

The friend said that Mr McCann is convinced that later that evening he may have come within a few yards of his daughter’s abductor when he saw her for the last time, a friend said yesterday.

It is claimed that he fears an intruder could have been hiding inside the family’s holiday apartment when he left the restaurant to go back and check on the children.

In the next few days detectives are expecting toxicology results that may establish whether Madeleine was given sedatives. Tests on hair and bodily fluids found in the McCanns’ hire car and apartment could establish whether she had ingested a large amount of drugs. The research was carried out by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham.

As the Portuguese police case appears to be faltering, the source rounded on what appeared to be an investigation in freefall after a judge ruled that there was no need to question the McCanns after police had failed to find new evidence. The source said: “The ball is back in the Polícia Judiciária’s court. They need to put up or shut up.

“We feel that the judge has said to the police that they need to go away and find some more evidence if we’re going to take it any further.

“They need to back up what they’re claiming, or stop.”

Leicestershire Constabulary refused to disclose how many officers were working on the case in Britain, and how much the investigation had cost.

A spokesman for the force said: “While accountability, public awareness and proper use of public funds are an important aspect of this high-profile international police investigation, it is essential for Leicestershire Constabulary to adhere to the Portuguese judicial secrecy requirements.”

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