Eileen McCann, who has strong family ties in the Donegal village of St. Johnston where the family holidayed earlier this year, says that, if Madeleine had been taken by someone she didn’t know, she would have screamed the place down.

Drugged

"I really believe they gave her a drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her wakening," she said.

The four year-old’s grandmother says the support the family have received from Derry and Donegal has been a great source of comfort.

"We always keep in touch and we are always there for one another,” she said.

“All the people in St Johnston who know me since we've been living there and my children... they know my children wouldn't do anything that is wrong."

And Mrs. McCann rubbished claims that DNA evidence found in a car hired by Madeleine's parents after she had disappeared proved that the four-year-old's body had been in the car.

"The thing is that little Amelie is wearing Madeleine's sandals and she is in and out of the car. Cuddly toys are in it. Madeleine's toys are in it. Madeleine's tops are in it that Amelie is wearing. It's nonsense," she said.

She says the past week has been dreadful.

"My son and Kate would never even slap their child, never mind do anything to harm her," she said.

"They are running away from nobody because they are innocent," she said.

Eileen McCann stressed that they were still receiving a huge amount of public support.

Both Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, remain official suspects into the disappearance of their daughter.