The boyfriend of a woman who vanished while walking her dog has said it is ‘perpetual hell’ as police continue to search for her.

Nicola Bulley, from Inskip, was last spotted walking on a footpath by the river off Garstang Road, in St Michael’s on Wyre, at about 9.15am on Friday.

Her Spaniel was discovered close to where it is believed the 45-year-old was last seen.

Lancashire Police is ‘extremely concerned’ for Nicola, who went missing in near freezing temperatures.

Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell, speaking from the family home said he spent all of Sunday searching for the mother-of-two.

The engineer, who has been in a relationship with Ms Bulley for 12 years, said: ‘It is just perpetual hell. It is just utter disbelief.

‘We are living through this but it doesn’t feel real.

‘All we can say is we need to find her. She’s got two little girls that need their mummy home.

‘We have got to get some good news now.’

Mr Ansell said he or Ms Bulley, also known as Nikki, would drop the children, aged nine and six, off at a local primary school before taking Willow for a walk along the river nearby.

Ms Bulley did the school run before heading for the dog walk on Friday, police indicated.

‘I got a call from the school regarding somebody who had found Willow, and Nikki’s phone and the dog lead and harness on the bench,’ Mr Ansell, who then called the police, said.

‘We take the kids to school and take the dog down there – either myself or Nikki – nearly every day.’

She was last seen by a member of the public at about 9.15am, police said.

Superintendent Sally Riley from Lancashire Police told a press conference that fears for Ms Bulley are growing as time passes.

She said: ‘The police are keeping a really open mind about what could have happened but we do believe that the likelihood is that Nicola has gone missing and this is not a crime inquiry.

‘We’ve mounted a really intensive operation to try to find Nicola.

‘We’ve got a large area to search.

‘People do go missing but clearly as time goes on we become more and more concerned for Nicola.

‘But we’re very much hoping that we will find something to try to bring her home safe and well soon.

‘We appeal for anyone who may have been driving through the village of St Michael’s last Friday morning at about 9.15am or who may have dashcam footage that could be of use to us, or people who may have been dog-walking in the area or on the tow path, to come forward.’

Dive teams, fire services, search dogs, helicopters and mountain rescue workers have all been deployed to the area to carry out extensive searches in the week.

Nicola is described as white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair, which was tied into a ponytail on the morning she vanished. She speaks with an Essex accent. 

She was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive green ankle wellies.

At the time, Nicola was walking her brown-coloured dog, and officers are hopeful this will jog the memory of anyone who saw her that morning.

Chief inspector Chris Barton said: ‘If anybody saw her on Friday morning and has not yet been spoken to by police, or if anybody has any other information about where she might be, please get in touch with us straight away.

‘Enquiries are very much ongoing and we have a team of detectives working tirelessly to establish the circumstances around her disappearance, in addition to a large team of police officers, partner agency and volunteer groups on the ground searching the area around where she was last seen.

‘We are following a number of lines of enquiry and are keeping an open mind at this stage about what has occurred. 

‘We appreciate there is a great deal of concern in the local area and that people want to help, however we would ask that nobody puts themselves in any danger.

‘If anybody has any questions or concerns they are welcome to speak to officers in the area.’

Anybody who has seen Nicola, or has information about where she might be, is asked to call 101, quoting log 473 of January 27.

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