The detective leading the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann is to retire, Scotland Yard said.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who has led Operation Grange since it was launched in 2011, is to step down before Christmas.

He will be replaced by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, who is currently with the homicide and major crime command, the Metropolitan Police said.

Mr Redwood said: "After careful consideration and a full and rewarding career in the Met the time is right for me to move on.

"The past three and a half years leading Operation Grange has been an extraordinary privilege, and I leave the investigation in the very capable hands of my experienced colleague Nicola."

Scotland Yard said that a handover was currently taking place and Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, had been informed of the change.

Ms Wall is due to take over officially on December 22 but will travel with Operation Grange detectives going to Portugal on Monday to carry out further inquiries, and will meet Portuguese officials.

British officers spent eight days searching three areas of land in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in June, close to where Madeleine disappeared more than seven years ago but they found no new evidence.

Madeleine disappeared from her holiday apartment on May 3 2007 as her parents Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends and it became one of the most famous missing persons cases of all time.

Portuguese police closed down their investigation into her death in 2008 but the Met launched its own operation three years later.