THE chances of Madeleine McCann being found are improving after Scotland Yard was called in to review the investigation, mum Kate said.

Liverpool-born Mrs McCann, 43, said grieving families should not be left to search for their loved ones alone. Calling for the Government to improve support, she said there was "currently no legislation to protect missing people and their families left behind".

Mrs McCann, 43, issued her appeal to Ministers as Scotland Yard continues its review of the investigation into her daughter's disappearance in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

The official Portuguese inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008, although private detectives employed by the McCanns have continued the search.

She said: "I don't think this should be the role of grieving parents ."

But she added that now Scotland Yard was involved "I feel the chances of her being found are improving".

She claimed the lack of support her family received was compounded by a "lack of communication and information".

Calling for a single point of contact between the families of missing people and the police, Mrs McCann added: "To be left in the dark when your child is missing and at risk is unbearable. "

Human beings are not equipped to deal with such ordeals and more support is crucial if "families are to survive.

"Many people have been worn down by this process because it's absolutely relentless and exhausting."

Despite being medically trained, she said she simply "could not function" when Madeleine went missing.

Mrs McCann, with her voice shaking, was giving evidence to MPs holding an inquiry into the support available for the families of missing people.

Speaking about her daughter's disappearance, she said: "It was the first time in my life when I felt out of control".

She said counselling had helped "to talk, to vocalise our fears and to challenge our fears.

"The sense of helplessness you feel is overwhelming."

Mrs McCann has also published a highly-personal book about Madeleine's disappearance in a bid to revive efforts to find her daughter.

Earlier, in an emotional press conference outside the Commons Mrs McCann was flanked by the mothers of two sons who are missing as she said there was nothing to protect the families left behind.

Holding up a picture of Madeleine, Mrs McCann said: "If your house is burgled, you are automatically offered victim support with emotional, practical and legal assistance.

"If your child goes missing, you may get nothing.

"This parliamentary inquiry has the potential to change that."

She went on: "When someone you love goes missing, you are left with unimaginable, unending heartbreak, confusion, guilt and worry.

"In addition to the reassurance that everything possible is being done to find their missing loved one, families need support. And they should be spared the additional pain of financial and legal bureaucracy."

Mrs McCann was joined by Nicki Durbin, whose son, Luke, 19, went missing following a night out in Ipswich five years ago and Sarah Godwin, whose son, Quentin, was 18 when he went missing in New Zealand while on his way to an after-school job on May 20, 1992.

Ms Durbin spoke of her "terror" at hearing about the discovery of a decapitated body on the local news, fearing it was her son, but not having anyone to call to find out more.

A point of contact with the police was crucial, she told MPs.

Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokesman said help for families of missing people was "certainly a priority for the Government".

"We are working hard to ensure that we have the best arrangements in place to support families when a loved one goes missing," he said.

"From July this year, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency will be taking over responsibility for missing children, with the aim of further improving the service that families receive."

Chief Constable Nick Gargan, chief executive of the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), said: "There wouldn't be a police officer in this country who wouldn't change the way they deal with missing persons if they'd listened to the evidence session I've just listened to."

MPs heard how families often felt they were being a nuisance to officers, felt they were treated as if they were wasting police time, and were left in the dark by police.

Forces receive 356,000 reports relating to 200,000 missing people each year - the equivalent of one report every 90 seconds, Mr Gargan said.

Up to 80% of these return home within 24 hours.

But between eight and 35 people are found dead each week after being reported missing, he told the MPs.

Of those who went missing, 52% were male, 48% female and two in three were young people aged under 18, he said.

Assistant Chief Constable Phil Thompson, the lead on missing adults for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), added: "This is crying out for a national strategy for missing people."

He also apologised after hearing that one officer accused Ms Durbin of wasting police time.

She told the inquiry that an officer once told her that, once her son turned up, the police would explain to him how much time and resources he had wasted.

Luke is still missing.

Martin Houghton-Brown, chief executive of Missing People, told MPs that up to 20,000 families a year could benefit from the support provided by the Missing People charity, but many were unaware that that help was there.

Home Office Minister James Brokenshire added: "We are acutely aware of the pain caused when a loved one goes missing and we are working hard to ensure the best arrangements are in place to support families."