They've taken her': Nanny who looked after Madeleine McCann reveals despair of Kate and Gerry when they discovered she had gone missing at Portugese resort which was so unsafe child minders were given rape alarms to walk home

This story was published by the Daily Mail by Amie Gordon For Mailonline. It refers to the ongoing story regarding the search for missing Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May, 2007

• Nanny who looked after Madeleine McCann has broken her silence after 10 years
• Said she is haunted by the image of Gerry McCann desperately trying to find her
• Child minder said Madeleine's devastated mother Kate cried, 'They've taken her'
• Claimed the resort was considered so unsafe nannies were given rape whistles

A child minder who looked after Madeleine McCann has broken her silence nearly ten years after the three-year-old went missing. The witness, who was working at the Portuguese resort where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, said she is still haunted by the night's events a decade on.

She said Gerry McCann desperately tried to find his missing daughter as his wife Kate wailed, 'They've taken her'.

The woman, who has not been named, reportedly looked after Madeleine several times. She told The Mirror the resort Madeleine vanished from was considered so unsafe nannies were given rape whistles and told not to go out alone.

She said: '[Kate] was pacing up and down. The worst possible thing had just happened to her. 'She was crying, but almost in a catatonic state, and Gerry was very distressed. 'That's the one thing I really remember from him, looking under the cars. I can't forget that.'

The woman also claimed police missed out 'whole chunks' of information during their investigation and took some 90 minutes to arrive at the scene.  She said there was 'no way' the McCann's had any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

An insider said police had found a person who was close by when the three-year-old went missing while on holiday in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.  The source said: ‘There is just one person who detectives want to speak to, who was near the area where Madeleine disappeared almost ten years ago. An international search has been under way to find them.’

In addition, the Portuguese detective who led the search for Madeleine McCann has promised to 'clean out' her grief-stricken parents by suing them for damaging his reputation.

Goncalo Amaral, 57, claimed in a book that Madeleine died at the McCann's holiday house in Praia da Luz and Kate and Gerry covered it up.

The McCanns won a libel case against Amaral in 2015, but this was overturned on appeal and that decision upheld in another court.

This means Amaral is now able to sue the McCanns for damages potentially totalling tens of thousands of pounds.