Maddie..is she here?

Wasteland is focus of latest bid to find her

- TOM PETTIFOR, MARTIN FRICKER and GERARD COUZENS

A FRESH police hunt for missing Madeleine McCann begins today near where the tot disappeared.

Around 30 German officers will scour rural land in Praia da Luz, close to the ex-home of prime suspect Christian Brueckner.

A source said: "Wells, ruins and water storage tanks will be searched." Madeleine was three when she vanished in May 2007.

The officers are due to start their four-day search between the flat she vanished from and the property Brueckner lived at the time. German detectives are said to have requested the work, which will be supported by Portuguese officers on the Algarve.

It is the first major hunt for Madeleine in two years.

A source said: "The search will take place on 21 privately owned pieces of land, which in some cases are open and not fenced off.

"Wells, ruins and water storage tanks will be searched.

"The landowners haven't had to give permission and they can't stop the searches from continuing if they turn up because police will be acting with a judicial warrant." Another source added: "Around 30 German police officers have already arrived in Portugal and will be starting the search tomorrow.

"Portuguese police will also be on the ground.

"We are talking about a rural area with a lot of wasteland.