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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Katie Weston & Nicole Wootton-Cane

Police searching for Nicola Bulley focus on caravan site next to where phone was found

Police hunting for missing Lancashire woman Nicola Bulley have been seen heading to a caravan park just yards from where her phone was found.

Nicola Bulley was last seen walking her dog in her hometown of St Michael's on Wyre on January 27 shortly after she dropped her two daughters at school. Her phone was later found on a bench overlooking the river, still connected to a work call.

Police have now been spotted turning their attention to a local caravan site, which is believed to be one of several CCTV 'blind spots' identified in the search for Ms Bulley. It comes as police officers are reportedly widening their investigation to include the day before she went missing, reports the Mirror.

READ MORE: Teenager stabbed in the chest in park

It comes after a friend of Ms Bulley, called Tilly-Ann, previously wrote in a Facebook post backed by Ms Bulley's family: "There's CCTV at the back of the caravan park.

"The only camera that isn't working is the one that would have seen everything."

As part of their investigation, detectives are claimed to have now requested CCTV footage from a local garage that covers one of the exit points from the field where she vanished.

The search for Nicola Bulley has entered its third week (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

Meanwhile, a witness has reportedly told police that he spotted two men acting suspiciously close to Nicola's dog-walk route the day before she went missing. The allegedly suspicious pair were seen outside a local church on January 26, according to reports. It is unclear if the police reportedly collecting CCTV on the same day is connected to these claims.

A worker at St Michael's Garage told The Sun on Sunday: "Two smartly dressed officers came in following up, a man and a woman.

"They wanted the CCTV from the day before Nicola vanished and to take statements of any activity we had seen from that day. These officers were different to the ones in uniform, they seemed very assertive."

Detectives have discounted foul play and are treating Nicola's disappearance as a missing person inquiry.

Police are also continuing to trawl the River Wyre towards the sea at Morecambe Bay, working on one hypothesis that Ms Bulley could have fallen in.

Tributes have been left on yellow ribbons (PA)

The search has been aided by specialists and divers from HM Coastguard, mountain rescue and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, with sniffer dogs, drones and police helicopters.

Yesterday, yellow ribbons with handwritten messages were left on a bridge close to where she disappeared. Ribbons with messages including "We need you home Nicola", "praying for your safe return" and "I love you" have been tied to a footbridge over the River Wyre. A large poster with a photograph of Ms Bulley has also been attached to the railings.

Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, said he wants to keep "all options open" about her disappearance, but his "gut instinct" tells him she is not in the river.

He described Ms Bulley as "fun", "loving", "the most loyal friend you could ever have" and an "exceptional mum" who "absolutely adores our girls".

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