THE parents of Madeleine McCann are "absolutely delighted" after almost 1000 phone calls and emails resulted from a Crimewatch reconstruction of her disappearance.

Glasgow-born Gerry McCann and his wife Kate said they were genuinely hopeful that one or more of the leads that developed from the 730 calls and 212 emails since Monday's programme would lead to a major breakthrough.

Scotland Yard had published four new e-fits, in addition to two earlier images, of men seen in the area of Praia Da Luz, Algarve, at about the time the child disappeared in May 2007.

Many of the phone calls came from British people who were in the Portuguese resort while the McCanns were holidaying there, who had never previously contacted the police about the case.

Several names, including a number who gave the same identity, were provided for an e-fit of a man seen carrying a child towards the beach that night.

British police now believe Madeleine, then three, could have been snatched up to 45 minutes later than previously thought. This would place the abduction shortly before Mrs McCann returned to the apartment from where she had been dining with her husband and other families at the Ocean Club complex.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather told BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday: "They received several names for the key 10pm sighting, the sighting of a man carrying a child towards the beach - several different names but also several callers mentioned the same name for that man."

Mr Mather said there were "inevitably a fair few calls" which were not helpful but there were "genuinely calls that were helpful" after last night's broadcast.

In a statement, the McCanns said: "We are absolutely delighted with the overwhelming public response to Crimewatch.

"We know that the public desperately want to help the search for Madeleine.

"We are genuinely hopeful that one or more of these responses will lead to a major breakthrough in the investigation."

They added: "If anyone was in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's abduction and has not spoken to the Metropolitan Police, or if they know who any of the e-fits might be, please have the courage to come forward and speak to the police in confidence."

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said: "We have now had over 730 calls and 212 emails as a direct result of the specific lines of inquiry we issued concerning events in the lead-up to, and on the night of Thursday May 3 2007 when Madeleine was abducted - 330 calls into the Operation Grange incident room, 400 to BBC1 Crimewatch.

"Detectives are now trawling through and prioritising that material. This will take time."

Mr Redwood appeared on a crime programme in Holland last night and will fly to Germany to appear on a similar broadcast tonight.

He said "I will be repeating similar appeals in Holland this evening on a programme called Opsporing Verzocht, and in Germany tomorrow night Aktenzeichen XY...ungelost."

Investigators are also trying to identify mysterious fair-haired men seen "lurking around" the apartment at the time who could be Dutch or German, and TV appeals will be run in Holland and Germany.

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of Madeleine's abductors.