‘Nothing to suggest’ tatty red van spotted on day of Nicola Bulley disappearance is suspicious

There is “nothing to suggest” the red van spotted on the day of Nicola Bulley’s disappearance is suspicious, Lancashire Police have said.

Police have confirmed that they are making efforts to identify the owner but there is no reason to suspect it is anything other than one of many hundreds of vehicles in the area that morning.

A 55-year-old unnamed witness told The Times that they saw a “tatty red van in Hall Lane outside a barn” on the day of Ms Bulley’s disappearance.

The witness said “its the sort of van you can live in” and said the van could have been a Renault.

They said: “I didn’t think anything at the time, but when I saw Nicola had gone missing, I called 101 and spoke to an operator.”

However, a tree suregon who rents out the barn where the van was spotted to store wood told The Sun he does not own a red van and nor does anyone he knows, and there is no reason for anyone to be in the barn unless they are up to no good.

He said: “I rent the barn to store woodcuts to dry out and I sell them as fire logs.

“I don’t know anybody with a red van who should be parked outside that barn or near the entrance.

“There’s no reason to be there at all without my permission, there’s nothing else there.”

Another witness told The Sun they saw a red van at around 9.40am on the day of the disappearance which “looked suspcious” and called the police three days later and was asked if they had any dashcam footage of the vehicle.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said they are aware of reports of the van but such reports can distract from genuine enquiries.

The police say they are open to receiving any credible information about what happened to the missing mother of two, but it remains their belief that Ms Bulley fell into the river.

Police have now widened their investigation of Ms Bulley’s disapperance to include the day beofre she vanished on 27th Janurary.

Lancashire Police requested CCTV footage from a local garage from 26th Janurary that covers one of the key exit points from the fields where she went missing.

Ms Bulley vanished without a trace along the River Wyre after dropping her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school.