MEPs overwhelmingly support creating an EU-wide sex offenders' register, according to a survey.

Politicians across Europe want crimes involving children to be treated the same way in all member states, the research found.

The survey was commissioned by the campaign to find Madeleine McCann, who was snatched from her parents' holiday flat in Portugal.

Almost every MEP surveyed (97 per cent) agreed there should be an EU-wide sex offenders' register, and 95 per cent said police should treat serious crimes involving children exactly the same across Europe.

Nearly nine out of ten MEPs would support the introduction of a common EU policy on child abduction cases.

The research also looked at attitudes of British MPs, 84 per cent of whom believed sex offenders should be tracked as they move across Europe and forced to register with local police.

Almost nine in ten MPs felt that the UK's Child Rescue Alert - an emergency scheme to publicise suspected child abductions within hours - should be extended across the EU.