The dog walker who found Nicola Bulley’s phone on a bench has spoken out about when he made the crucial discovery.

Sky News was recreating the walk the missing mum, 45, had taken before she vanished from St Michael’s on Wyre on January 27.

In an incredible coincidence, the man who first spotted the phone was walking his dog at the same time.

He gave his name as Ron and explained that he came across the device on a nearby bench at around 9.30am that morning.

He said he initially thought someone had left their phone while ‘going to the toilet’ but kept walking and eventually thought ‘this is not right’.

Ron told Sky News: ‘Then it was just a progression of things happening, you know. Because of the wallpaper on the phone we found out who the couple were, and the school was contacted and Paul (Ms Bulley’s partner) arrived.’

Ron did not know the couple personally but recognised their dog Willow and was familiar with their faces.

Nicola Bulley was last seen on the morning of Friday January 27 (Picture: PA)

Nicola’s last known movements – and CCTV cameras in the area (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

Ms Bulley’s disappearance has captured the attention of entire nation which is desperate to see the loved mum returned to her family.

On Wednesday, Lancashire Police published a press release which went into detail about Ms Bulley’s health issues.

They said: ‘Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months.

‘This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.

‘As a result of those issues, a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a report of concern for welfare at Nicola’s home address on January 10.

‘No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.

‘It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life, but we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation.’

The force has since faced heavy criticism for revealing something so private to the public and it has been accused of sexism.

Former victims’ commissioner for England and Wales Dame Vera Baird told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It is a dreadful error to put this in the public domain for absolutely nothing and I’m afraid I think it’s as sexist as it comes.

Nicola’s partner Paul Ansell has urged the public not to engage in ‘wild theories’ and focus on finding her (Picture: Facebook)

‘Would we have had police officers saying, you know, if it was Nicholas, he’s been unfortunately tied down with alcohol because he’s been suffering from erectile dysfunction for the last few weeks? I think not. 

‘You can hear all the senior police officers squirming as I say it, I would have thought.’

Nicola’s family have said they believe the public focus on her private life has become a distraction from finding her.

At a press conference six days after Nicola went missing police first said its ‘main working hypothesis’ was that the mortgage adviser fell in the river during a ‘10-minute window’ between 9.10am and 9.20am that day.

They continued to say her disappearance was not being treated as suspicious.

Meanwhile Ms Bulley’s friends and neighbours, including her next-door neighbour and friend Charlotte Drake, have continued to flock to a bridge over the Wyre to lay yellow ribbons with messages which say they still hope she will be found safe and well.

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He said he could feel that ‘something wasn’t right’ when he found the phone.