The couple disclosed that they almost decided against going to a tapas restaurant opposite their apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 last year.

But they decided against a plan to take the children to another restaurant because of the distance, they revealed.

In an ITV documentary, Mrs McCann also spoke of how she had "persecuted" herself for a year for not paying more attention to a remark by Madeleine on the morning before her disappearance that she had been crying the previous night in her parents' absence.

Interviewed for the programme, Madeleine, One Year On: Campaign For Change, the McCanns also spoke extensively of their emotions on the night of May 3/4 and their desperate dawn search through deserted streets for their daughter.

They also described their feelings on being made "arguidos" or official suspects in the case by Portuguese police as like being "in the middle of a horror movie".

In the two-hour documentary, which charts their campaign for an EU-wide missing child alert system, Mr McCann spoke of their current existence with no news of Madeleine's whereabouts as like "purgatory".

Breaking down in tears repeatedly, Mrs McCann spoke extensively about her experiences and hopes for the future.

Mrs McCann hinted openly for the first time at a deal reportedly offered to her by police if she admitted accidentally killing Madeleine and staging an abduction. She told the programme she was not going to be "railroaded".

The couple admitted they were effectively forced to leave Portugal two days after being declared arguidos last September because they felt it was no longer "safe" for them there.