Kate McCann 'more driven than ever' in search for Madeleine

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann. Photo / AP

Kate McCann says she is "more driven than ever" to continue the search for her missing daughter Madeleine, ahead of the eighth anniversary of the girl's disappearance.

Kate McCann announced she will lead a 805-kilometre bike ride from Edinburgh to London in June to raise £10,000 (NZ$20,244) for a missing persons charity.

Madeleine was three when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve on May 3, 2007 as her parents, Kate and Gerry, dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

Fundraising for Missing People, of which she is an ambassador, Kate McCann will lead 20 cyclists on a Cycle Challenge starting at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh's landmark hill, on June 13. They will then take in Newcastle, York, Nottingham and Northampton before finishing at the Tower of London on June 17.

Madeleine's disappearance is one of the most famous missing persons cases of all time.

Last week, her parents won a libel payout against Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral, who had been on trial over claims he made in a book and a documentary that the couple were involved in Madeleine's disappearance in Praia da Luz.

In a written verdict, a Lisbon court agreed that Amaral should pay the McCanns 250,000 euros (NZ$369,690) each in damages and it banned further sales of his book, The Truth Of The Lie.

British police officers spent eight days searching three areas of land in Praia da Luz last June, close to where Madeleine disappeared, but found no new evidence.

-AAP