The Italian man and Portuguese woman allegedly promised Kate and Gerry McCann information about their four-year-old daughter.

The couple were arrested at Sotogrande, near Algeciras, Spain, but they are not being linked with the girl's abduction.

Madeleine disappeared from an Algarve holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May.

Following the arrests Spanish police said they were investigating the couple for trying to contact Madeleine's parents to collect a reward.

It is alleged they attempted to claim more than �2.5m (Euro4m) by giving bogus information about Madeleine.

On Friday, a judge in Torremolinos imposed a secrecy order meaning the police can make no further comment on the investigation.

Mr and Mrs McCann, who have stayed in Portugal since Madeleine disappeared, are making no comment of the court case.

They think Spain is one of the places she might have been taken because of its proximity to Portugal, and went to the country last month to ask for assistance in the hunt for Madeleine.