The Home Office is set to approve an additional £302,000 into the Madeleine McCan investigation, according to reports.

The latest monetary injection will see the total handed to the Metropolitan Police for the investigation rise to a total of £13 million.

A source close to the investigation said: “This is excellent news. Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry will be delighted. It gives fresh hope”.

Unsurprisingly the news has seen eyebrows raised, especially during a “time of squeezed budgets” as former Met detective Pete Bleksley put it.

“I understand the frustrations of families that have missing children who do not have the luxury of such ongoing funding”, Bleksley said.

Ministers previously approved a request for £302,470 of funding for the last financial year, 2022/23.

The Home Office said it had received a funding application, adding: “It will be considered, as usual, in line with our Special Grant process”.