An investigator who once probed the Madeleine McCann case has issued a brutal seven-word verdict on the new police search. German police investigating the disappearance of the little girl are to carry out fresh searches in Portugal this week, 18 years after the three-year-old went missing.

The searches are being carried out close to the Portuguese holiday spot where Madeleine was last seen alive. German police are said to have requested the searches, expected to take place between Praia da Luz where the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007, and a house near the holiday resort where prime suspect Christian Brueckner used to live. Investigator Mark Williams-Thomas has dashed hopes the police will find any evidence with their searches.

Mr Williams-Thomas claims he has already “thoroughly investigated” the area the police are searching during his three part Paramount investigation called: Madeleine McCann: The Case Against Christian B.

He added that he had already "filmed a lot of the area", dismissing any hope of the police uncovering evidence.

Taking to X the Former British detective said in blunt seven-word remark: “I cannot see any evidence being found.”

He added that prime suspect Mr Brueckner was last seen at the address “10 months before Madeleine went missing”.

His full tweet read: ”The police in Portugal are going to search for the German police - the areas surrounding where Christian B (CB) rented a small farm building. The search is looking for evidence of Madeleine McCann’s body.

"I thoroughly investigated this whole area for my @paramountplus series and we filmed a lot of the area around.

"It was 10 months before Madeleine went missing that CB was last seen at that address. I cannot see any evidence being found."

A Portuguese source confirmed this week's operation is scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning but said some preparation work may take place beforehand. He said: “They will be land searches only. The main objective is to look for any signs of Madeleine's body.”

German investigators have taken the lead in the case since identifying 48-year-old Christian Brückner - who is currently in prison in Germany for a separate crime - as their prime suspect in 2020.

It will be the first search in Portugal for more than two years, following a near-week-long operation involving Portuguese, German and police officers at a remote dam a 40-minute-drive from Praia da Luz.

A police insider said: “The search will take place on 21 privately-owned pieces of land which in some cases are open and not fenced off. Wells, ruins and water storage tanks will be searched.”

However British police will not be involved.

A Met Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the searches being carried by the BKA in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

“The MPS is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary.”