A German man under investigation as a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann has been released after serving his sentence in an unrelated case.

German police investigating the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007 will carry out fresh searches, British police said.

Madeleine McCann was nearly 4 when she vanished in 2007 while her British family was on vacation in the town of Praia da Luz in the Algarve resort region of Portugal.