A former Shropshire paedophile linked to the Madeleine McCann investigation has admitted seeing the toddler before she vanished, it was claimed today.

A police source said Raymond Hewlett, 64, claimed he got so close to Madeleine at the holiday resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, from where she disappeared he could see a distinctive flaw in her right eye.

Hewlett, who used to live in Wellsfield, Woodside,Telford, has already given a saliva sample to police at his hospital bed in the University Clinic, Aachen, where he is being treated for throat cancer, according to German newspaper Bild.

Hewlett, who now lives in Germany, is said to have been staying about an hour’s drive from the McCanns’ holiday flat when Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, aged three.

He is said to have made his confession about seeing the youngster to police who questioned him about a 1975 attack on an eight-year-old girl.

Two senior officers from West Yorkshire Police travelled to Germany to interview Hewlett and a source close to the investigation was today reported to have told them he had been to the Ocean Club and seen Madeleine. The source said: “He said he had seen her at least two times and had wandered around the complex several times.

“He didn’t say why he had previously denied ever being in Praia da Luz. It’s obviously a disturbing development.”

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said it was vital Hewlett now spoke to private investigators employed by them.