A LEADING Tory youth activist apologised “unreservedly” to the parents of Madeleine McCann last night after dressing up as their missing daughter at a New Year’s party.

A spokesman for the five-year-old’s parents, Liverpool-born Kate and Gerry, said Matthew Lewis had been “offensive almost beyond belief” in making fun of their agony.

The Conservative Future (CF) member wrote on his Facebook site that his costume included a blonde wig, “pink pyjamas, a teddy bear and a vial of fake blood”.

Other figures from the organisation joined in the joke, with one responding: “Is this a cunning (Baldrick style) plan to obtain the reward money?”

In a statement last night, he said: “I unreservedly apologise to Mr and Mrs McCann for my actions.

“I completely regret my behaviour that night and since, and cannot express how sorry I am for the incredible hurt I have caused.”

Tory chairman Caroline Spelman branded Mr Lewis’s behaviour “totally unacceptable” and confirmed he had been expelled from the party.

“This offensive behaviour is not only shocking but intolerable and completely unacceptable,” she said. “There is no place for this sort of person in the party.”

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, praised the Conservatives’ “swift and appropriate” steps against Mr Lewis.

But he went on: “The offensiveness of this activist’s actions is almost beyond belief.