I’m a former police officer and evidence that could help find Nicola Bulley has been destroyed

CRUCIAL evidence that could help solve the riddle of Nicola Bulley's disappearance has been destroyed, an ex-cop claims.

In the hours after the mum-of-two's disappearance, police failed to cordon off the Lancashire field she was last seen in.

Failure to do so left the riverbanks and paths in St Michael's on Wyre "not very forensically friendly" and "no use", the anonymous ex-Lancs Constabulary cop said.

The retired-bobby, who knows the area well, explained: "There will be fingerprints and boot prints from all kinds of people in the area, which would be no use to the police."

And without the exact shoes Nicola wore on the day, it will be near impossible to have tracked her footprints, he stressed.

The mistake was not helped by the fact the alarm was only raised with cops two hours after Nicola, from nearby Inskip, vanished.

Nicola was last seen 17-days-ago on January 27 at around 9.10am.

Hundreds of ghouls, armchair detectives and members of the public have since been free to traipse the very route Nicola was seen walking.

Graham Wetton, a former Metropolitan Police officer, said he would like to think there was a strong reason why cops never secured the area.

He told : “They didn’t think there were any forensic opportunities there because they were clearly convinced, from whatever information they’ve got, that she’s gone in the water.”

Police were last week forced to issue dispersal orders in the vicinity after amateur detectives began breaking onto private properties as they hunted for clues.

Ghouls have even broadcast their searches live on social media.

But police say they threaten trashing possible evidence and scuppering the investigation.

SEARCH DEEPENS

The search for Nicola deepened this weekend as they appealed for additional footage after a witness came forward with CCTV from local St Michael's Garage.

Police obtained video 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.

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

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

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

It would suggest 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.

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

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

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.