A local parish council chairman has called for respect after it was reported that people had travelled for miles to 'take selfies' on the bench where missing Nicola Bulley's phone was found.
The mum-of-two went missing on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre in Lancashire. Since then, missing person posters have been put up on almost every railing and lamppost as emergency services and search teams desperately try to find her. Follow live updates from the search here.
The riverside path where the 46-year-old was last seen walking her Springer spaniel, Willow, has a steady footfall but in recent days, the paths have been rammed with visitors who have travelled to the village to watch the search in action, LancsLive reports. Visitors have reportedly travelled from as far afield as Lancaster and Manchester.
READ MORE: Police issue update on Nicola Bulley disappearance and say they still believe she fell in the river
People have also reportedly been posing for selfies with missing posters that have been put up in St Michael’s on Wyre, as well as with the bench where Nicola's phone was found. Chairman of St Michael’s Parish Council, Giles Phillips, condemned those taking ghoulish selfies and said 'it is not a spectator sport'.
Giles said in recent days the village has seen an increase in families visiting the riverside to watch the search operation. He said: "It would be helpful if people could let the authorities do their jobs.
"We don’t want anyone to hinder the investigation. This is not a spectator sport.
"Most of the area is private land - the public access is very minimal and can’t absorb the numbers of people who are coming every day. They aren’t searching for somebody - they are watching someone else search for somebody. We would rather people stayed home or took a day trip to the Lake District."
Lancashire Police yesterday warned they 'will not tolerate' people committing criminal offences by breaking into empty or derelict riverside properties to try to find the missing mother-of-two. In a press conference on Tuesday, detectives warned members of the public not to 'take the law into their own hands' and not to direct online abuse at people connected to the investigation.
Superintendent Sally Riley said: “We will not tolerate online abuse of anyone, including innocent witnesses, members of the family and friends, of local businesses, or of criminal damage or burglary. We will be taking a strong line on that, as you would expect.”
Ms Riley told reporters: “There are some properties along the riverside which are empty or derelict. Whilst it may be well intentioned that people think that that could be a line of inquiry, I would ask them to desist from doing that.
"In some cases it may be criminal if they are breaking in and causing damage or committing a burglary."
Peter Faulding, leader of underwater search experts Specialist Group International (SGI), has been searching the river for two days after being called in by the family to help. Mr Faulding has said if his team does not find her in the water using his sonar equipment then he believes she has not been in the river and raised 'third party' involvement in the disappearance.
But Ms Riley told reporters at a press conference in the village that Mr Faulding is not included in 'all the investigation detail'.
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