A missing mother-of-two who vanished while walking her dog would never leave her children, a family friend has said.

Nicola Bulley was last seen on Friday at around 9.15am on a towpath by the River Wyre off Garstang Road in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.

Her mobile phone was found on a bench nearby and was still connected to a conference call when it was spotted.

Ms Bulley’s dog, a springer spaniel called Willow, was found loose between the river and bench.

Her partner of 12 years, Paul Ansell, has said “the girls are desperate to have their mummy back home safe with them”.

Heather Gibbons, a friend, told Sky News: “You go from being hopeful to heartbroken, and just trying to be strong, because all we want is to find her for her girls and for Paul.”

She added: “You want to hold on to the hope that no news is good news.

“But knowing Nikki, we just know that if she could be at home with her girls, we very firmly believe that’s where she would be. Her family are everything.”

Another friend, Emma White, described Ms Bulley as “the kindest, beautiful, lovely human being inside and out”, adding that her partner, Paul, was “being strong as possible” for the couple’s two children, aged nine and six.

“We don’t know why she’s gone missing, where she is, we just want her home,” she said.

The search for the 45-year-old mortgage adviser entered its sixth day on Wednesday, while detectives investigating her disappearance question a “potentially key” witness.

The 70-year-old is believed to have been in the area at the time Ms Bulley went missing.

A major search involving police dive teams, drones, firefighters and mountain rescue volunteers continues.

Friends and family have also been part of a widespread community search.

Officers have said they are “extremely concerned” for Ms Bulley’s welfare, but stressed the investigation still remains a missing person inquiry and there is nothing, at the moment, to suggest third-party involvement in her disappearance.

She is originally from Chelmsford, Essex and has lived in Lancashire for 25 years.

Police said she speaks with an Essex accent.

She is described as white, 5ft 3ins tall, with light brown shoulder-length hair.

Ms Bulley was last seen wearing a long black gilet jacket with a hood, black jeans and olive green ankle wellies. Her hair was tied into a ponytail.

As well as Inskip and St Michael’s on Wyre, she also has links to Thornton Cleveleys.

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