Regional journalists have won praise for their coverage of the Nicola Bulley case amid criticism from a police chief about their national colleagues.

Lancashire police and crime commissioner Andrew Snowden, pictured, thanked newspapers based in the county for the way they handled the disappearance and death of the mother-of-two, whose body was found in the River Wyre in February.

In particular, Mr Snowden contrasted the behaviour of journalists working for the Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Post and Lancashire Telegraph, as well as BBC Radio Lancashire, with that of national titles during the search for the 45-year-old.

Following her death, Ms Bulley’s family issued a scathing statement in which they accused media organisations of running “appalling” stories about them “to sell papers and increase their own profiles”.

The statement sparked an industry debate in which former Lancs Live editor Luke Beardsworth claimed it was “not enough” for regional titles “to point out their coverage has been more respectful” than others, although other journalists working in the county defended the way they had covered the case.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Snowden said the media narrative in the national papers had been about “bungling, incompetent cops” who were ultimately proved to have been “right all along.​”

“So how did the police lose control of that narrative? I’m grateful to outlets like the Lancashire Post, BBC Radio Lancashire, the Lancashire Telegraph and Blackpool Gazette… all [of whom] were very measured and sensible in their reporting and listened to what the police were saying.

“But that wasn’t the case with a lot of the national newspapers – and then this became an internationalised, sensationalised story.

“TikTok, in particular, [saw] online amateur detectives pushing conspiracy theories out, which resulted in vile abuse towards Nicola’s family and friends. How did that get so out of hand?”

Mr Snowden’s comments come after he ordered an independent review into the three-week missing person inquiry that had been carried out by Lancashire Police following Ms Bulley’s disappearance.

At the time, the force was criticised over its handling of the case by Newsquest investigations editor Mark Williams-Thomas, who warned police press offices across the country to “wake up” and called for a change in thinking from police communications teams in what he termed the era of the “armchair detective”.

Vanessa Sims, who edits the Preston-based Post and its National World sister title the Gazette, told HTFP: “In an era of keyboard detectives the team at the Lancashire Post and Blackpool Gazette prided themselves as being the home of trusted news on the tragic case of Nicola Bulley.

“The interest the case received was phenomenal and the insensitive and often harmful actions of amateur social media detectives made covering the case in a measured and accurate way even more important.

“Cases like this clearly demonstrate how important the local media is when it comes to providing fast, accurate and trusted news on the issues that matter the most to our readers.”