A HAMPSHIRE father has become a key witness in the search for Madeleine McCann after telling police about a suspicious man he confronted at the same flats, just days before she went missing.

Paul Gordon, from Fareham, and his family spent a fortnight in the same Portugal holiday apartment last April, immediately before the McCanns arrived.

During their visit Mr Gordon, 34, confronted a suspicious charity collector just outside the flats, while his own two children were asleep inside.

When he found the man outside the glass patio doors at the back of the two-bedroom apartment in Praia da Luz, the stranger claimed to be collecting money for an orphanage.

Back home, the brewery sales executive immediately contacted police about his experience when news of Madeleine's disappearance first broke.

Mr Gordon has subsequently also been interviewed by the team of private detectives working on the case on behalf of Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.