Police sniffer dogs used in the search for Madeleine McCann and April Jones yesterday joined the hunt for missing schoolgirl Alice Gross.

The South Wales victim detection dogs are part of a huge team from more than 20 forces across the country trying to find the 14-year-old, who has not been seen for over a month.

The seven year old springer spaniels, called Tito and Muzzy, took part in the unsuccessful search for Madeleine around the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in June.

They were also used during the hunt for murdered five year old April in 2012. The dogs are trained in locating concealed bodies and are working with their South Wales police handlers.

The forces said in a statement yesterday: "South Wales Police is supporting the Metropolitan Police investigation into missing teenager Alice Gross. The mutual aid provision consists of several members of the Specialist Search and Recovery Team.” A spokeswoman confirmed they include Tito and Muzzy.

The biggest Metropolitan police hunt since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 yesterday moved to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park, in west London - around two miles from where the 14-year-old was last seen near the Grand Union Canal.

A stretch of the canal was sifted through in the hope to recover her possessions, including her iPhone, but officers again drew a blank.

Yellow ribbons adorn homes and railings in the area where the community have been praised by officers for their help.

Alice was last captured on CCTV walking along the canal towpath as it passes under Trumpers Way at 4.26pm on August 28 but has not been seen since.

Detectives are scouring through hours of “crucial” footage from more than 300 CCTV cameras for clues in piecing together her last movements. Officers from more than 20 forces continue to comb through scrubland running alongside the canal.

Police dog 'Muzzy' searching for Madeleine McCann in Portugal in June 2014
Police dog 'Muzzy' searching for Madeleine McCann in Portugal in June 2014

Convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, who was filmed cycling the same route behind the teenager, remains the prime suspect in her disappearance. Police are urgently working with the authorities in his native Latvia to track down the labourer who went missing a week after Alice.

Her mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, said: “Every morning, as Alice’s disappearance grows longer and longer, brings new agony, new anguish.”

Zalkalns was convicted of his wife’s murder in 1998 and served seven years in jail before moving to the UK in 2007.

Mark Bridger, 47, was found guilty of April’s abduction and murder last year. He snatched the little girl from outside her home on an estate in Machynlleth while she was out playing in October 2012.

Madeleine McCann was close to turning four when she disappeared from the family apartment in Portugal May 2007.

Report by Mirror.co.uk reporters Tom Pettifor and David Collins