DEVASTATED Kate and Gerry McCann are to launch a legal blitz in Portugal after the publication of a scandalous book about the disappearance of their daughter Maddie.

In The Truth Behind The Lie, ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral details ludicrous allegations about the couple and the pals they dined with when Maddie vanished in Portugal last year.

The McCanns plan to take action against Amaral, Portuguese newspapers which reprinted parts of the £10 book and bloggers who discussed it.

A source close to the family said last night: “The gloves are off. Amaral has over-stepped the mark and they feel they have been left with no choice. Enough is enough.

“The lawyers are looking at pretty much everything.”

In the book, Amaral, 48, claims that cops suspected Kate and Gerry almost as soon as Maddie, now five, vanished in the Algarve.

He also makes a serious allegation against one of their “Tapas 7” dining pals.

Earlier this week, Kate and Gerry, both 40 of Rothley, Leics, were officially cleared of any involvement in the case.

Amaral, who was taken off the investigation last October, said last night: “This book is not revenge, it is not persecution. We can discuss the case in court if they want.”