British girl taken into Portuguese care
An eight-year-old British girl has been taken into care in Portugal over fears she was being neglected.
Police said Stephanie Bysh, 44, had been staying in a hostel in the Algarve when she ran out of money.
Officers believe she and her daughter Ariela Gama may have been sleeping rough before being taken in by friends in the town of Lagos.
The youngster was later handed over to police over fears she was being neglected and is now in a Portuguese social services' home.
The matter is in the hands of the family courts but it remains unclear as to whether Bysh, of Barnet, north London, will face prosecution.
Since her daughter was taken into care, Bysh has spent four days in hospital with a kidney complaint.
Neither the police or Foreign Office could confirm reports that the child had been left on her own several times while the mother went drinking.
Lagos is a few miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine McCann was snatched shortly before her fourth birthday in May last year.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "An eight-year-old girl has been placed in the care of Portuguese social services.
"We are providing appropriate consular assistance to both the mother and the child."
Reports suggested neighbours called police, claiming the child had been abandoned several times at night.
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