Nicola Bulley cops widen their search for missing mum after questioning their theory that she fell in the river

POLICE searching for Nicola Bulley have widened their search as they question whether she even fell in the River Wyre at all.

The mum-of-two was last seen 17-days-ago on January 27 near St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, at around 9.10am.

Cops probing Nicola's disappearance are now appealing for additional footage after a witness came forward with CCTV from a local garage.

Police took footage from St Michael's Garage covering the 24 hours before the last sighting of the mum.

The CCTV, on the main road running through the village, covers one of the key exit points from the fields where Nicola went missing.

A garage worker told The Sun on Sunday the security cameras are in working order and picked up vehicles travelling along the main road.

The worker, who asked not to be named, said the two cops were "assertive" when asking for footage.

They added: "They wanted the CCTV from the day before Nicola vanished and to take statements of any activity we had seen from that day."

It is unclear what day the police got hold of the garage CCTV.

The move for additional footage suggests Lancashire Constabulary are becoming more open to the possibility the mortgage adviser was snatched.

It would appear a marked change on their "main working hypothesis" that she fell into the River Wyre in a "tragic accident".

Despite this, cops are continuing to scour the coastline in Morecambe Bay at the mouth of the River Wyre as they continue to search for Nicola.

THE CHURCH

It comes as The Sun on Sunday today reveals a witness spotted two men acting suspiciously - close to the dog-walk route the day before she disappeared.

They came forward after spotting the pair outside the local church, it is unclear what day the witness came forward.

Significantly, the same person told police he saw one of the men in the vicinity of her usual route on the morning she vanished.

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The garage employee said he knows the witness who reported the church sighting.

They added: "He said he wanted to make sure they were chasing this up so I asked the officers about it and they said they were following it up."

The worker said the witness described seeing the men acting suspicious.

As well as near to the church, they were also around a nearby bridge on January 26.

He told how the witness said he saw one the next day near the bridge, which is at the start of the footpath which Nicola used almost daily.

The worker added: “He saw what he saw and wanted to make sure the police followed it up."

"Whether them collecting the CCTV from the same day is connected, I don’t know."

As well as the alleged sightings, police are hunting a "shabby red van" spotted near a log shed around the time of Nicola's disappearance.

Lancashire Police had already trawled the area for camera footage and dashcam video from January 27, the day Nicola vanished.