Family members of the British girl thought to have been abducted from a holiday apartment in Portugal have attended a church service to unite in prayer for her safe return.

|PIC1|Three-year-old Madeleine McCann from Leicestershire went missing from her holiday apartment on the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz earlier in the week.

Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann were joined by at least 150 other worshippers in a packed small 16th century church for Sunday mass.

During the service priest, Father Jose Manuel Pacheco told the family that the entire community was with them. He said, "We are here like all Sundays and today we have a very big intention, we want to be with this family, the family of Madeleine. We are with the family, the parish, since the first moment of the event."

After the service, a tearful Mrs Mcann said: "I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to everybody, particularly the local community here who have offered so much support.

"I couldn't have asked for more. I just want to say thank you. Please continue to pray for Madeleine. She's lovely."

Gerry McCann added: "From today's service, the thing we're going to take from this is strength and courage and hope, and we continue to hope for the best possible outcome from this for us and for Madeleine."

Portuguese police say they have a suspect and still have reason to believe that Madeleine is alive.

Madeleine went missing on Thursday from the family apartment at the Mark Warner Ocean Club while they were at a nearby restaurant.

The resort offers a crèche service but the couple decided to leave Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie sleeping in the apartment, believing them to be absolutely safe. The two had been taking turns to return to the block to check on their children.

|QUOTE|When Mrs McCann returned to the apartment she found the outside shutter and window to Madeleine's room open and her daughter missing shortly before 10.00pm local time.

Mr McCann said: "We have no further information regarding the investigation but appreciate the significant effort everyone is making on our behalf. We would again like to appeal for any information, however small, that may lead to the safe return of Madeleine."

Police searching for Madeleine fear she has been seized by a paedophile. Officers have indicated that they have a prime suspect, but were refusing to release any details, for fear of endangering Madeleine's life.

Police stated that they believe Madeleine, whose fourth birthday falls this week, is alive and may be being held no more than three miles from where she was abducted.

It is now thought the battle is one against time to find Madeleine, known as Maddy, before she is murdered.

Trish Cameron, Mr McCann's sister, said on Friday that she received a telephone call from her brother, who was "hysterical and crying his eyes out". She said: "They had put the kids to bed at 7pm and checked on them every half-hour as they had dinner nearby with the rest of the party. Gerry said the window was open, the shutters broken and the door, which had been locked, was hanging open."

The family have asked that prayers continue for the safe return of Madeleine.