DORSET Police are playing down an alleged sighting of missing Madeleine McCann in the county.

Alan Cameron, a retired civil servant, claims the toddler turned up at his house in Stratton, three miles north-west of Dorchester.

Sunday newspapers reported the child matching Madeleine's description arrived in the care of a Portuguese couple, who had come to buy some garden furniture advertised locally.

A Dorset Police spokesperson said: "We are grateful for the call but there is nothing at this time to suggest this is the missing girl.

"Enquiries are continuing to finalise this."

It is the first time a sighting of three-year-old Madeleine has been reported in Britain since her disappearance from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May last year.

Mr Cameron, 66, said he became suspicious when he saw a girl sitting in the couple's car.

He told the Sunday Express: "Straight away the couple struck me as odd. The woman said she was Italian but they were speaking fluent Portu-guese. The man told me they ran a language centre in Weymouth but then the woman hit him and told him to be quiet."

Mr Cameron, a former clerk with the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the girl spoke in English and appeared distressed as he let her use his bathroom.

He said: "The woman grabbed her and scooped her under her arm.

"She didn't allow the girl to walk and deliberately pushed the hood of her jersey over her head. She was sobbing. This little girl was unhappy and she was scared. I knew straight away it was a face I'd seen in the news. I'm convinced of it."

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, the parents of the missing girl, remained optimistic over the sighting.

He said: "There is a lot about this sighting which suggests at the very least that we are talking about an abducted young girl.

"We are eagerly awaiting any outcome."