A wild swimmer who has swam in the same river near where Nicola Bulley was last seen says "it's hard to get out of".
Mark Astin, a photographer and swimmer, also doubts Nicola fell into the River Wyre when she went missing on January 27.
He said that stretch, where she was last seen, is a "nice place to swim" but says in some places it is "trickier" to get out of.
The mortgage adviser, 45, has been missing since January 27 and was last seen walking her brown spaniel Willow near the River Wyre in St Michaels on the Wyre, Lancashire.
Search teams have been scouring the River Wyre down to Morecambe Bay as part of the investigation.
Mr Astin has shared a video on YouTube showing him swimming in the river in June 2021 and in some parts the water is waist-deep.
He told Express.co.uk: “When we went last, the water was so calm. In the middle of the summer, it was a really quite warm day, the water temp was quite warm, and it was shallow. Some parts of the way will be a bit more tricky to get in and out.
“It’s a really quiet place to go open water swimming, a lovely place to visit in the summertime as you can see from the photos I took.
"I don't know what happened to Nicola, but I don't think she fell into the river. I hope they find her soon. It's a shame what's happened there.”
As the search for Nicola is in its third week, her partner Paul Ansell has repeatedly said he doesn't believe she's in the river.
Nicola's friends and family are desperate for answers and have refused to give up as they continue to appeal for anyone who may remember something to come forward.
Peter Faulding led a private underwater search team as he joined the search for the mum-of-two last week, but left the village after three days of scouring several miles of the River Wyre.
He has now launched his own "low-key" search and claims he has spoken to Ms Bulley's family about "deposition sites" - a term referring to a place where someone has been buried.
Mr Faulding has said that police share his doubts about the "unusual" case.
He told the Daily Telegraph : “There is lots of odd stuff here. If she isn't found then I would say something is not right. Police officers have been ringing saying they agree with me, this is an odd one.
"The police divers are very professional, they would have found her that day. There is no reason she would disappear. She was happy”.
Yesterday, the diver said if she was in the river then she would have needed to have been "shoved really hard".
Mr Faulding told TalkTV: "If Nicola slipped down the bank she would end up with water to the top of her legs, if she went out into the middle it's about 3.5m/4m deep.
"But the bench is quite a way back, so to actually get into the river you would have to be pushed very hard, or knocked out and shoved in the river.
"I mean the dog was dry here, so I don't believe that she's just slipped down the bank."
