Nicola Bulley suffered with "some significant issues with alcohol" in the past which had resurfaced over recent months, police have said.

Ms Bulley, 45, disappeared while walking her springer spaniel Willow in the village of St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, after she dropped off her two daughters - aged six and nine - at school on January 27. 

Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson and Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith gave a press conference on Wednesday regarding the investigaiton.

During the press conference, Mr Lawson said the disappearance of Nicola was graded as "high risk" immediately after police were called at 11am because she had "specific vulnerabilities".

Later clarifying what they meant by "vulnerabilities" the police said that having spoken to her partner, Paul Ansell, it was clear Nicola suffered "significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause". 

They added that these had "resurfaced over recent months".

They also revealed a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a "report of concern for welfare" at Ms Bulley's home address on Jan 10. No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.

On Wednesday evening, a statement on the Lancashire Police website said: "We have described how Nicola had some vulnerabilities at the time she went missing and we just wanted to expand on that a little.

"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 10th.

"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."