Police have received dozens of calls after releasing images of a man who may have abducted Madeleine McCann.

The sketches were based on a statement given by a British holidaymaker who stayed in the same resort in Portugal last year.

They are thought to resemble another drawing done of a man that a friend of the McCann's saw on the night the four-year-old vanished.

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "He is out there - now let's find him."

The olive-skinned man was said to be seen acting suspiciously near the apartment complex in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished on May 3 last year.

Holidaymaker Gail Cooper said she saw the man walking by himself in heavy rain on the deserted beach at Praia da Luz on April 20. Later the same afternoon, she received a visit from the same man, whom she described as "disturbing".

The man was nervous and agitated and claimed to be collecting for a local orphanage, she said.

Mr Mitchell said Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry were "buoyed" by the picture, but said Portuguese police had been told about the sighting of the man in May.

However, he refused to attack the way the investigation had been run saying: "I am not going to criticise the Portuguese police. We just want them to get on with the job of finding Madeleine."

Investigators have asked anybody with information to call 00 34 902 300 213.

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