A second phase in the search for clues relating to the missing British toddler Madeleine McCann begun today near Praia da Luz.
For the past seven days members of the British police, overseen by Portuguese police officers, have concentrated their fingertip and geo-radar searches in an area of scrubland within the Praia da Luz area.
After a break on Monday and Tuesday, the teams today started to inspect two plots located outside the boundaries of Praia da Luz on the road leading from the town to Lagos.
A British police spokesman said, "There is still a substantial amount of work to be completed in the coming weeks and months, which, again, should be seen as nothing more than normal operational activity in a case of this size and complexity."
In a related matter, the trial in which the parents of Madeleine McCann are claiming compensation of €1.2 million for alleged defamation by the former judicial police inspector Gonçalo Amaral, restarts next week on June 16th.
The case was suspended last October in the hope that Gerry and Kate McCann could reach an out of court settlement with Amaral whose book about the case indicated that Madeleine's parents had something to do with her disappearance; this they objected to and sued the PJ inspector for a sum that will see Amaral's financial ruin should they be successful.
AS it it not proven that Madeleine is dead, the McCanns, in theory at least, need permission from the British High Court to represent their daughter in this and any other legal actions.
The final session will go ahead on June 16th with closing arguments but yet may be postponed due to this technicality.
