A major search for a two-year-old boy who has been missing in the French Alps for five days has been called off.

The boy, named only as Emile, was saying with his grandparents when he went missing on Saturday afternoon.

He was last seen by two neighbour walking alone down the street near their house.

Last night, police said they were calling off the search for the toddler to focus on evaluating the evidence that has already been gathered as part of the investigation.

Local prosecutor Remy Avon had previously warned that given the extreme heat and the child’s young age, his life would be “very much at risk” after a 48-hour period.

Search teams gather in a steep area near Vernet. Image: Abaca Press/Alamy Live

Emile’s grandparents live in a remote mountain village just outside Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence between Grenoble and Nice.

There are only around 24 people living in the small village.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, M Avon said the massive search had found no trace of Emile and no further search parties would be sent out.

"The judicial investigation into the causes of the disappearance will continue,” he said.

“In particular by analysing the considerable mass of information and elements collected over the past four days.”

Search teams in a steep area near Vernet. Image: Abaca Press/Alamy Live

Police and gendarmes have already entered every building in the village – and some 500 volunteers helped with the search, looking in the forests and fields that surround the village.

M Avon admitted there are very few clues about the toddler's disappearance, noting that a blood stain found in a car had been sent for analysis but was discovered to be from an animal.

He said the possibility Emile went missing alone would not be ruled out, "even if this probability is very small".

Search teams in a steep area near Vernet. Image: Abaca Press/Alamy Live

The local mayor, Francois Balique, earlier told French TV: "The family was getting ready to leave the house to go on an outing. He took advantage of this fleeting moment to leave.

"His grandparents realised he was no longer there when they went to put him in the car."

BFM TV said authorities were using a recorded voice message by Emile's mother, broadcast over loudspeakers from a helicopter, in the area of the search.

Reporting from Michael Staines and IRN.