Missing mother-of-two Nicola Bulley booked a playdate with a friend in her final text minutes before she disappeared, it emerged today. 

The mortgage adviser, 45, sent the text at 8.57am just before logging on to a Teams call while she walked her dog along the River Wyre in Lancashire, locals were told at a village meeting. 

Her final sighting was at 9.10am and 25 minutes later her phone and dog lead were found on a riverside bench. 

A resident of St Michael’s on Wyre told: ‘She booked a playdate, 8.57, she sent a text message to a friend whose mortgage she had just recently signed off on to arrange for the girls to go for tea this week.’

The local, who did not want to be named, said this was more evidence that she had no intention of voluntarily disappearing, adding: ‘You wouldn’t have done that if you were going to get up and go missing.’