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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Alahna Kindred

Nicola Bulley police searching underneath bridge 7 MILES from where she vanished

Police searching for Nicola Bulley are this afternoon trawling underneath a bridge more than seven miles from where the mortgage adviser was last seen.

The mum-of-two, 45, was last seen walking her dog Willow after dropping her daughters off at school in the small village of St Michaels on Wyre, Lancashire on January 27.

Two weeks on, Nicola has not been found. Lancashire Police launched a massive search and were seen combing the river bank, utilising diving teams, search dogs, drones and boats to no avail.

Today, police have been seen in a boat underneath the Shard Bridge - about seven and a half miles up away from where Nicola was last seen.

Nicola Bulley hasn't been seen since January 27 (PA)

The bridge is about halfway to the estuary from the village. Images show specialists in a small boat travelling around and under the road crossing.

It comes as the search has already expanded to the Irish Sea.

Police have said their "main working hypothesis" was that she fell in a river but a body has not yet been found. However, they insist they are keeping an open mind.

The search has expanded to towards the sea (PA)

Earlier today, Nicola's friends were seen lining the streets of the village where she was last seen in a vigil.

Yesterday, a concerned resident had come forward saying they spotted a suspicious-looking vehicle, believed to be a Renault, outside a barn in St on the day Nicola went missing.

A second witness has also come forward with a similar description of a "shabby" red van.

A police Search and Rescue team in Knott End-on-Sea, Lancashire (PA)

It comes as detectives are looking into a mystery two-hour gap between the mum's disappearance and the first call to the police to report her missing.

Nicola was last seen at around 9.10am, and police were called until about 11am.

Lancashire Police have said they are working on the hypothesis that Nicola fell into the river, but no trace of the mum has been found after specialists have searched a mile-long stretch of the River Wyre.

Two boats with specialist police teams have been searching in the sea at Morecambe Bay (Sky News)

Specialist Group International chief Peter Faulding said he is "100 per cent" sure Nicola is not in the stretch of river initially suspected, and his job is done.

Police have been forced to warn members of the public from taking law into their own hands when getting involved in the search, with a group last night understood to have been given a dispersal order.

Yesterday, the search moved to Morecambe Bay as two boats with specialist teams were seen in the sea.

Nicola Bulley hasn't been seen since January 27 (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)

There are at least three CCTV blind spots in the area where Nicola was last seen, raising the possibility that she could have left the area.

One spot is a path that is not covered by security cameras. It leads to Garstang Road which runs through the village.

It comes police are trying to get dashcam footage from about 700 vehicles that they have identified as passing along the main road through the village at the time Nicola vanished.

Friends of missing mum Nicola Bulley hold placards and make an appeal two weeks after her disappearance (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Another possible blindspot is a riverside path leading from the Wyreside Farm Caravan Park through to the A586.

A camera at a house is understood to have not been working at the time, but it still doesn't cover the exit.

Friends of Nicola have also claimed the CCTV covering one of the two exits from the river near the mobile home site Rowanwater, is not working.

Anyone with information which could assist our investigation should call Lancashire Police on 101 quoting log 0565 of January 30th. For immediate sightings please call 999.

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