A body found in the search for Nicola Bulley has been confirmed by police to be the mother-of-two.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Lancashire Police assistant chief constable Peter Lawson said: “Sadly, we are now able to confirm that yesterday we recovered Nicola Bulley from the River Wyre.

“Nicola’s family have been informed and are of course devastated. Our thoughts are with them at this time as well as with all her loved ones and the wider community.

“We recognise the huge impact that Nicola’s disappearance has had on her family and friends, but also on the people of St Michael’s.

“We would like to thank all of those who have helped during what has been a hugely complex and highly emotional investigation.

“Today’s development is not the outcome any of us would have wanted, but we hope that it can at least start to provide some answers for Nicola’s loved ones, who remain foremost in our thoughts.”

16:27 20 Feb 2023 Downing Street declined to comment on the possibility of an independent external review of Lancashire Police and its handling of the Nicola Bulley case.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “You have heard the concerns of the Prime Minister before.

“He welcomed the fact there was an internal investigation, I think the first step is to allow that to take place and see what the findings are, so I am not going to comment before that.”

“We think it is appropriate that this investigation is taking place.

“We will wait and see what the findings of that are before commenting further on the investigation, given it is a live case,” the spokesman added.

11:47 20 Feb 2023 The Home Secretary has said she was not “wholly satisfied” with the response of Lancashire Police’s chief constable to questions about their decision to release elements of Nicola Bulley’s into the public domain.

Asked if there would be an external review into the police’s handling of the case, Suella Braverman said: “I want to put on record my deepest thoughts and sympathies for the family of Nicola Bulley, it must be a horrendous experience that they are going through right now.

“We need to let the police carry out and conclude their investigation. I did have concerns earlier in the week about some of the elements relating to the release of personal information of Nicola Bulley into the public domain.

“I raised those concerns with the chief constable – I wasn’t wholly satisfied, I have to say, with some of the responses I got but it is a matter for the police themselves.

“There are some investigations ongoing, looking into how the investigation has been handled and we must let that carry out its own process.

“We must just let the investigation conclude, and then we will see what the investigations and inquiries come back with.”