MADELEINE SUSPECT GIVES DNA SAMPLE

Raymond Hewlett voluntarily gave a sample of his DNA to police in Germany after detectives investigating an incident from 1975 requested the sample.

The 64-year-old gave a saliva sample to police in his hospital bed at the University Clinic in Aachen where he is being treated for throat cancer, according to German newspaper Bild.

The sample relates to an investigation by West Yorkshire police into incidents which occurred in 1975.

A police spokesman said they "actively wanted to speak to" Hewlett in relation to their ongoing investigation into the 34-year-old case.

UK-born Hewlett, a former soldier who previously lived in Blackpool and Telford, is said to have been staying around an hour's drive from the McCanns' holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when the little girl vanished on May 3 2007.

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing while her parents dined with friends nearby.

Despite a massive police investigation and huge publicity worldwide, she has not been found.

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said: "We are looking for him. We want to speak to him in relation to an incident in 1975. We have requested a saliva sample to be taken on our behalf as part of our inquiry. It is a routine matter for us."