Blackpool Police seeking witnesses after reports teenage girl walked into sea

Blackpool Police was called by HM Coastguard to the North Pier just after 4.20am following reports by a member of the public that the girl, who is 17, had gone into the water and had not been seen since.

Extensive searches of the area were made but nothing was found. Police have since spoken to the member of the public who said they have not directly seen the female go into the sea, only that they were speaking with the girl for a short time, they then went away for a few minutes and on their return the girl had gone and the informant feared she had possibly gone into the sea.

Some blood was found on the pier, but it is unclear at this stage whether that has anything to do with the investigation.

A number of enquiries have been made to find the teenage girl, but they have so far proved unsuccessful.

Officers are now appealing for witnesses who may have seen the girl around 4.20am on Sunday or later.

She is described as having long, dark hair and was wearing dark jeans, a dark grey top and possibly dark trainers. It is thought she lives in South Shore, possibly with her grandparents.

Chf Insp Eric Halford, of Blackpool Police, said: “I know an incident like this will be of concern to the public, but at this stage we are trying to establish exactly what has happened. At present we are investigating a number of possible scenarios and one is that the female has left of her own accord, maybe simply returning home.

“However, we urgently need to find the female described and I would ask anyone who may have seen her, or anybody with dashcam or CCTV footage from the area, to contact police as soon as possible. If the female described sees this appeal, I would also ask her to get in touch with us.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101, quoting log 0309 of August 9.