Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, giving evidence at County Hall in Preston, said there was “no evidence” Nicola Bulley was harmed before her death.

The inquest into Nicola Bulley’s death heard today that she died as a result of drowning and was alive when she fell into the river.

The 45-year-old went missing from St Michael’s on Wyre in Lancashire in January, prompting a major search.

TikTok detectives swarmed the area when she went missing – even a private firm offered its services for free to patrol the streets for the residents to feel safe from the self-declared internet sleuths.

It took more than three weeks for her body to be found in the River Wyre – a mile away from where she was last seen.

The pathologist also testified that she also had not been drinking before her death.

Coroner Dr James Adeley asked her: “At the time of her death she had no alcohol in her bloodstream?”

Dr Armour replied: “That’s my opinion.”

The pathologist also dismissed any third-party involvement or that any harm had come to Ms Bulley on the morning of her death.

Paracetamol and a prescription beta-blocker called propranolol were also found but in very small amounts, not considered to be an “overdose”, she said.

She noted Ms Bulley’s body had clearly been in the river for a period of time.

Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell and sister Louise Cunningham are among the witnesses set to give evidence at the two-day hearing.