McCanns, the media and traffic wardens
Updated on 18 September 2007
What does it mean when the media circus comes to town? Well, if you live in Rothley it means you'll struggle to find parking if you have to nip to the shops.
The spaces have all been taken by satellite trucks and edit vans.
I met a woman in the post office who told me it had taken her 20 minutes to park - unheard of in this little village. A pub has put up a sign asking the media to respect the parking rights of Rothley residents.
It can feel overwhelming.
I reported from the village when Madeleine first went missing. Many people came up to us and said they were glad we were helping publicise the disappearance.
When Rhys Jones was shot dead in Liverpool, I counted 53 cars and vans belonging to reporters, cameramen and producers, all parked on the one street where it happened.
In Rothley, the media has tried not to camp outside Mr and Mrs McCann's house and instead, based themselves in the village centre.
Long cables snake around the green, TV monitors are propped up against the fence and reporters wander round talking to themselves as they rehearse their lives.
One company set up a tent in front of the war memorial in case it rained. There are crews from across the country, Europe and even Japan.
We make quite a spectacle and dozens of people have come out to have a look. 
Photos of satellite trucks camped out at Rothley
I have talked to people who traveled from neighbouring towns including Leicester and Loughborough, just to stop and stare at us. One couple came all the way from Milton Keynes, saying they'd never seen anything like it in their lives.
But there are others who are annoyed at our presence.
The front page of the Leicester Mercury declared that angry villagers have called on the media to leave them alone. It listed 23 news organizations that had descended on Rothley, although it didn't include its own reporters on the list.
I reported from the village when Madeleine first went missing. Many people came up to us and said they were glad we were helping publicise the disappearance.
We were even offered cups of tea.
But now, the mood has changed. People don't know what to make of the latest twists and turns and some blame the media for fuelling endless speculation.
And yet they still want to hear the latest.
One man told me he checked the internet every half an hour for updates. TV news audiences are up and newspapers are selling more.
This is one of those rare stories that everybody has an opinion on. So many times, people have asked me - What do you know? What have you heard? Who do you think did it?
There is one group of people who are probably delighted we are in town. I'm told that you never usually see a traffic warden in Rothley. Suddenly, there are four.
Every single satellite truck has been issued with a parking ticket. One van even had three, arranged neatly on its windscreen.
