Madeleine McCann detectives looking at FIVE more cases where young girls were attacked #CarryGobySeanKellz #FutureGroupNG via @i_amreginaldjr

BRITISH detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking at five more cases in which young British girls were sexually assaulted in the Algarve.

Madeleine McCann has been missing since 2007 [AFP]

In each case, a lone intruder broke into a holiday home before attacking the girls.
One of the assaults, on a 10 year-old girl, was carried out in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine McCann was staying when she disappeared.
The 2005 attack took place two years before Madeleine vanished.
Scotland Yard recently made an appeal to trace an intruder suspected of carrying out the attacks, which lead to 500 people contacting them with new information.
Officers are now looking at a total of nine sexual assaults and three "near misses" on British girls aged six to 12 between 2004 and 2006.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said today: "We have now identified a further five sexual assaults and one near miss. None of those six matters we were aware of prior to our appeal.
"In this new tranche of information we have got one crime which is very clearly in the heart of Praia da Luz in 2005, on a young, white, 10-year-old girl.
"Clearly the fact that we've now got an assault that is in the heart of Praia da Luz, very close to where a previous matter had been reported, means that we are even more interested in this as part of the inquiry."

Officers are now looking into nine sexual assault on young girls as part of the investigation [PA]

British investigators are looking at 18 potentially-linked break-ins in the area, where little or nothing was stolen.
This includes the nine sexual assaults, three near-misses and six incidents where the intruder was disturbed before anything happened.
In the previous appeal, the suspect was described as a tanned, dark-haired man who spoke English slowly, with a foreign accent and possibly slurred speech, had unkempt hair and was unshaven, and smelled strange. Some witnesses said he had a pot belly.
Investigators from Scotland Yard are waiting for an official agreement later this week, and hope to begin "operational activity" in Portugal linked to the case.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: "I am cautiously optimistic that in the not-too-distant future we are going to start to see activity."
Mr Hewitt would not reveal what the operations will involve.
British detectives launched a fresh investigation into Madeleine's disappearance in July last year - two years into a review of the case.
After shelving their inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in 2008, Portuguese authorities said last October that a review had uncovered enough new information to justify reopening it.
Portugal has declined to set up an official joint investigation with the Met.
Mr Hewitt said Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May have expressed a personal interest in the case, and stand ready to intervene to press the Portuguese authorities for help if necessary.
There is a £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for Madeleine's disappearance.
Anyone with information can call police on 0207 321 9251 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.