Kate McCann has broken down in tears during a television interview, while making an appeal for help in finding her daughter.

The appearance, shown on Spanish TV station Antena 3, is the first televised interview Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry have given since being made official suspects in Madeleine's disappearance.

The four-year-old vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 while her parents dined nearby with friends.

Mrs McCann became emotional towards the end of the questioning, recorded on Tuesday, as she talked personally about her eldest child.

"I feel sad and I feel lonely and our life is not as happy without Madeleine," she said in tears, adding: "I feel anxious she is not with us."

Asked about the last time she saw Madeleine, she said: "She was very happy and very loving and I know Madeleine was very happy with her life. She is special."

The McCanns reportedly chose Antena 3 ahead of more well known broadcasters such as Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters for the interview because they believe their daughter is most likely to be in Spain, Portugal or north Africa.

They urged people from that region to dial +34 902 300213 on a confidential, 24-hour phone line manned by private investigators if they have any information about Madeleine.

The couple have received the backing of the Portuguese police in launching the initiative, said their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell.

Asked if she was as confident now of finding the four-year-old alive as she was on the day Madeleine went missing, Mrs McCann replied: "Maybe even more so. I think she is possibly being held by someone in their house but I don't know.

"As Madeleine's mummy I feel in my heart that she is there. I don't know how anyone could harm anyone as beautiful as Madeleine. I don't mean her appearance. I mean as a beautiful person."

Asked how their other two children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were coping, she said: "They do ask about Madeleine. Madeleine was very much a big part of their life. They are not upset and they are not distressed but they are very much aware she is not there."

Mr McCann said: "The hardest thing for me is when they [the twins] say, 'When is Madeleine coming back home?' and we have to say, 'We don't know but everyone is looking for her'."

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