A Portuguese prosecutor will receive documents on the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann by Tuesday, a police spokesman said, before deciding whether they contain enough evidence to bring charges against her British parents.

Police spokesman Olegario Sousa, who earlier said the results of a Portuguese police inquiry would be handed over by end of day Monday, said the prosecutor would now receive the case on Tuesday.

Gerry McCann, right, father of missing four-year-old Madeleine, receives a visitor at his house in Rothley, near Leicester, England, on Monday.
(Sang Tan/Associated Press)

"The prosecutor will then have to decide whether he has enough evidence to charge the McCanns or whether the police need to carry out more inquiries or gather more evidence," Sousa told Reuters.

He did not provide details of the police findings, citing Portugal's secrecy law that covers ongoing investigations.

Sousa said he expected the public prosecutor to "quickly decide" on what action to take in the case.

The public prosecutor's office decides whether charges should be brought against anyone or whether further investigation is required, or it could decide to drop the case altogether.

In another development, the administrators of a $2 million US fund set up to help find Madeleine were investigating whether some of the money could be used to help pay the McCanns's legal bills, Britain's Press Association quoted an unidentified family friend as saying.

In a remarkable turn of events for the McCanns, the couple was identified on Friday as suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine. They were interrogated separately for hours. The couple returned to England Sunday with their two-year-old twins.

"We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter, Madeleine," Gerry told reporters upon their return.

Madeleine vanished from her room at a Portuguese resort on May 3, while her parents were eating dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Police have reportedly said they found traces of blood in the couple's car in southern Portugal, where they had been on a family vacation at the time.

With files from the Associated Press