POLICE investigating the disappearance of Nicola Bulley have been criticised for revealing personal details about her life.

On Wednesday, Lancashire Police said the 45-year-old had experienced some “significant issues with alcohol” which had been “brought on by ongoing struggles with the menopause.” 

This is why the mother-of-two had been classed by police as “vulnerable” and a “high-risk” missing person after her partner Paul Ansell reported her disappearance, senior officers said at a press conference. 

Lancashire Police said that it had told the family before that it was going to release this information, however MPs and campaigners have condemned the move. 

Labour MP Stella Creasy tweeted that the level of detail was “deeply troubling” and the force needed to be “much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley.”

Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo described the force’s “broadcasting,” of her health issues as an “invasion of her privacy with no obvious benefits for the investigation,” while former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said the release would “give fuel to the victim blamers, armchair sleuths and conspiracy theorists.”

But Ms Bulley’s family suggested that they had supported the move in a bid to stop “speculation and rumours” about her private life which they said was distracting the public focus away from finding her. 

“As a family, we were aware beforehand that Lancashire Police last night released a statement with some personal details about our Nikki,” the family said in a statement. 

“Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.”

Ms Bulley vanished after dropping off her daughters, aged six and nine, at school on January 27 in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.

Since her disappearance, huge public and media interest has resulted in what police described as “false information, accusations and rumours.”