The week-long search for missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann is being scaled down, police in Portugal said last night.

The Policia Judiciaria said that the search had not yet been called off but admitted that it was being wound down.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa insisted that the investigation itself was continuing and the initial purpose "to locate the little girl" remained its focus.

This has shifted from the resort in Praia da Luz where Madeleine was snatched last Thursday night to following up possible sightings over an extended area, including CCTV footage from a petrol station where a woman and a child matching Madeleine's description were seen.

Her parents, Glaswegian cardiologist Gerry and Kate, a GP, were interviewed yesterday by Portuguese police, along with friends. Police emphasised they were not under suspicion.

The McCanns had left Madeleine asleep in their apartment with her younger twin brother and sister while they had dinner a short distance away. She was gone when they returned.

Mr Sousa said that an area 125 miles square had been covered more than once by search and rescue squads and dog teams, with no result.

Friends and relatives of the McCanns in Glasgow have organised a vigil tonight at 7pm at St Andrew's Cathedral in Clyde Street.