Nicola Bulley latest: partner Paul Ansell tells coroner Nicola was ‘back to herself’ after Christmas ‘blip’

Paul Ansell has told the inquest into Nicola Bulley’s death his partner was ‘looking forward to the future’ on the day she vanished.

Mr Ansell, giving evidence on the second day of the hearing at County Hall in Preston, said Nicola had experienced a ‘blip’ over Christmas but had got back to her normal self in January. “The blip over the Christmas period happened but in January she was back to herself, looking forward to the future and everything was on the up,” he said.

“She spent most of the last year doing hard work to build the business up and she was starting to see the rewards of that.” The Inskip mum-of-two had arranged two meeting on Friday, January 27 - the day she disappeared - and was “ready for the day ahead, everything was in a good place,” Mr Ansell said of the scene in the home that morning.

Nicola was self-employed but worked for Exclusively Mortgages. She was securing business with Love Homes and Concept Homes as well as through word of mouth. She had worked hard to pass her exams again having been out of the industry for several years. According to Mr Ansell, she was pleased to have that level of independence again and things were only looking up.

The inquest - which started on Monday and is scheduled to last two days - had earlier had from a Home Office pathologist who gave Nicola’s case of death as drowning.