Police given more time to question man on suspicion of murder of missing Blackpool man

0709 Eddie Forrester new pic
Eddie Forrester was last seen on Friday 1 September Credit: Lancashire Police

Detectives have been given more time to question a 65-year-old man on suspicion of the murder of missing Blackpool man Edward Forrester.

Edward, 55, who goes by Eddie, was last seen in Seafield Road at 1.31pm on Friday September 1. He is 5ft 5ins, has grey hair, speaks with a Scottish accent and uses a walking stick and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a white and green t-shirt.

Eddie was reported missing the following day, and after enquiries a 65-year-old man from Blackpool was arrested on suspicion of murder.

CCTV picture from when Eddie was last seen Credit: Lancashire Police

Detectives have now been given a further 24 hours to question him and he remains in custody.

Police are also keen to hear from anyone who saw the white Peugeot Boxer van (pictured) registration KX09 XPA, between 6am on Saturday, September 2, and 1am on Tuesday, September 5.

They believe the van has been in Blackpool, Lytham St Annes and Cumbria, including Kendall and Windermere during that period. It has since been recovered by police

Police want to hear from anyone who saw this white van Credit: Lancashire Police

DCI Mark Haworth-Oates, of Lancashire Police's Force Major Investigation Team, said: "This is clearly a very distressing time for Eddie’s family and my thoughts are with them. They are being supported by specially trained officers.

"We have a dedicated team of officers carrying out numerous enquiries to find Eddie and our hope is that we find him alive. As part of those enquiries I would ask people to consider if they have seen this vehicle during those three specific days.

"Please check your CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage to see if you may have captured this Peugeot Boxer Van. We believe it was in Blackpool and Lytham St Annes on Saturday and in Blackpool and Cumbria on Sunday and Monday.

"We are continuing to ask anyone with information on Eddie’s whereabouts – or Eddie himself – to call the police."

Can you help?

Anyone with any information is asked to email forcecontrolroom@lancashire.police.uk or call 101, quoting log 1384 of September 2, 2023. For immediate sightings call 999.