I saw red van hunted by Nicola cops, there’s no reason for it to be there unless you’re up to no good, says tree surgeon
A TREE surgeon who uses a ramshackle barn where a “suspicious” red van was spotted near where Nicola Bulley vanished, told The Sun: “There’s no reason to be there, unless you’re up to no good.”
Denis Rowlandson, 47, who runs DR Tree Surgeons, said he doesn’t own a red van, and nor does anyone he works with.
He said: “I rent the barn to store woodcuts to dry out and I sell them as fire logs.
“I don’t know anybody with a red van who should be parked outside that barn or near the entrance. I don’t know of anybody at all with a red van.
“There’s no reason to go into that barn unless you’re nicking logs or up to no good.
“There’s no reason to be there at all without my permission, there’s nothing else there.”
Mr Rowlandson says he’s been keeping track of Nicola’s disappearance on the news over the past few days, but hasn’t yet been contacted by police about the sighting.
We told yesterday cops are probing reports of a “shabby and suspicious” red van near where Nicola disappeared on January 27.
A witness described it as a high-sided Renault or Transit in a faded red and said it was a “shabby” older model.
The man, a local, said the motor “grabbed his attention” and he later felt compelled to call police with details.
A second witness has also contacted officers to report seeing the van in the area.
We visited the dilapidated barn in Hall Lane yesterday. Down a short muddy track, it appears to be part of the same estate as an abandoned house near the River Wyre.
The barn is padlocked but has a large hole in the front showing logs piled inside.
Next to the barn there is a rundown outbuilding, covered in thick overgrowth with holes in the roof and the windows smashed.
The inside is exposed and the floor filled with junk.
Meanwhile, the area around the barn is self-contained and doesn’t provide access to any other locations.
