DCI Redwood said the new timeline meant the focus was now very much on the man seen by the Smith family around 10pm.

He said: “This could be the man who took Madeleine, but very importantly there could be an innocent explanation.

“The e-fits are clear and I ask the public to look very carefully at them and if they know who this person is, please come forward.”

In a special edition of the Crimewatch programme screened last night, the images were broadcast along with a series of other e-fits of potential suspects, police are desperate to locate.

The Met team have identified a number of sightings of suspicious blonde haired men, who were seen hanging around the Ocean Club resort in the days leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance.

One witness saw a fair haired man standing close to the McCanns’ apartment twice, first on April 30 at around 8am and then again on May 2.

On the day of the abduction at around 4pm a witness saw a man hanging around close to where the McCanns were staying and then two hours later another was spotted in the stairwell of the apartment block.

Police have also considered the theory that Madeleine could have been taken after disturbing a burglary in the apartment.

They have discovered a four fold increase in the number of break-ins in the area between January and April that year and have also discovered that a number of bogus charity collectors were operating in the resort at the time.

Witnesses have been able to provide two e-fit images of men who were visiting properties on the pretence of collecting money for orphans around the time of Madeleine’s abduction.

Police are also keen to trace two blonde men who were seen on the balcony of a nearby empty apartment just two doors down from where the McCanns were staying on May 2.

Explaining the significance of these sightings, DCI Redwood said: “Madeleine McCann’s disappearance does, on one reading of the evidence, have the hallmarks of a pre-planned abduction. That would undoubtedly have involved reconnaissance and so we are really keen to understand who these people are.”

Some of the witnesses suggested that the blonde men may have been speaking Dutch or German and as a result last night’s Crimewatch appeal is to be shown in both of those countries.

However there are no plans to screen the appeal in Portugal, where there remains some scepticism about the investigation.

The Scotland Yard investigation was launched in the summer after detectives spent two years reviewing all the evidence collected so far by the Portuguese authorities, British police and private detectives.

The efit pictures scare me

Please Help Find Madeleine

Hopefully she is found one day alive and well

If shes alive and found, she will probably always have nightmares about the people who took her

Thats unless she is looked after well by these people as if they are a proper family

I hope its the latter but that is extremely unlikely.

Parents were under investigation. The evidence was pretty strong against them. Yes Kate looked very calm following the disappearance. You would think she'd have been in a far worse state

They went to the media far quicker than what was advised of them. However you cant hold that against them

Sniffer dogs found blood in their car. The McGanns used the car to build up their campaign to find Maddie in Spain. However conspirators believe they had Maddies body in the car and they were going to "remove" the body somewhere. Some believe Kate accidently killed Maddie and that the McGanns tried to hide it.

Its been almost 7 years since the abduction now. Maddie, if still alive, will look a lot different (almost unrecognizable) to what she looked back then. The most likely way of knowing who her abductors are is if the efit photos are identified.