Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are to carry out new searches of a reservoir, Sky News understands.

Officers will start work on Tuesday at the Arade dam, which is located about 50km from where the British toddler went missing in Praia da Luz in the Algarve, 16 years ago.

British police will also be present during the search, according to Portuguese media reports.

The search reportedly comes at the request of German police, who announced in June 2020 that they believed Madeleine was dead and suspect Christian B was likely responsible for it.

The convicted child abuser and drug dealer, is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region of Portugal from where Madeleine went missing, but has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.

He has always denied involvement.