McCanns seek 'Beckham lookalike'!

Madeleine has never been found

Private detectives hired by Madeleine McCann's parents want to trace a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent.

The woman is being sought because of something she said to two British men who met her in Barcelona three days after Madeleine went missing.

A press conference is due to begin at 1100 BST in London.

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was three when she went missing from a holiday flat in Portugal on 3 May 2007.

Full details about the Spice Girl lookalike will be released later. The private detectives believe she may have important information about Madeleine's disappearance from the Algarve's Praia Da Luz.

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann will not be attending the press conference, instead former detective inspector Dave Edgar will appear alongside the McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell.

Mr Edgar and a second retired British detective, Arthur Cowley, were hired by the McCanns to continue the search for their daughter after the official Portuguese investigation was shelved in July last year.

The two former policemen have visited a number of European countries in the pursuit of leads.

This week Leicestershire Police said it had spent almost £750,000 assisting the Portuguese police in their inquiry.

BBC NEWS REPORT.