Police searching for missing mum of two Nicola Bulley have recovered a body from the river near to where she went missing.

“We were called today at 11.36am to reports of a body in the River Wyre, close to Rawcliffe Road,” Lancashire Police said in a statement.

“An underwater search team and specialist officers have subsequently attended the scene, entered the water and have sadly recovered a body.

“No formal identification has yet been carried out, so we are unable to say whether this is Nicola Bulley at this time.

“Procedures to identify the body are ongoing. We are currently treating the death as unexplained.

“Nicola’s family have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected.”

Earlier, a road was cordoned off along the river in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as was a footpath.

The search site is about a mile from where Ms Bulley was lasted spotted.

A police helicopter hovered above the area for about 25 minutes and a drone was used, too.

Sky News correspondent Inzamam Rashid said a white forensic tent had been erected.

“There is a significant police presence at one section of the river,” Rashid said.

The senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, was among them, he added.

The area has been the focus of an intensive search operation since Ms Bulley, 45, was last seen at about 9.10am on 27 January while walking her dog.