Tributes were today paid to a six-year-old Telford schoolgirl and her father who died in a county house fire.

The bodies of Kay-Leigh Cooke and her 33-year-old father, Andrew Lineton, were discovered at a house in Briarwood, Brookside, Telford, last night. Pupils at the youngster’s school, William Reynolds Infants School in Woodside, were told of the sad news this afternoon.

Paying tribute to the youngster, Meg Thompson, headteacher at her school, said: “The whole school is in shock at this dreadful news.

“Kay-Leigh was a little star and everybody’s friend.

“She loved school, she always tried really hard at her work and was always bright eyed and bubbly with a smile on her face. It really is a terrible tragedy to lose her so young.”

Mr Lineton’s colleagues at Fruit of the Loom in Halesfield, where he had worked for the last five years, also paid tribute to him.

Milissa Chesters, spokeswoman for the company, said: “We are both shocked and very saddened by the news which we received this morning regarding Andrew Lineton and his precious daughter, Kay-Leigh.

“Andy was a hardworking and likeable young man and valued member of our operations team.

“He had worked for the company since April 2006.”

She added: “Andy will be sorely missed by all of his friends and colleagues here at Fruit of the Loom.

“Our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time.”

A floral tribute laid at the scene today read: “Rest in peace Andrew and Kay-Leigh. God bless you both, with love from Nina, Leon and family x”.

Steve Melvyn, 23, a neighbour of Kay-Leigh and her mum, said: “From what I could see she always looked like a happy little girl.

“We would see her when I walked my girl to school and she always seemed happy with her mum.”

Mr Lineton’s neighbours at Briarwood said he was a quiet man who “kept himself to himself”.

One neighbour, who did now want to be named, said: “He was a very polite man who had split from his partner and had his young daughter at weekends.

“They kept themselves to themselves, but he always used to say hello and he used to put her up on his shoulders as they walked down the road.”

By Kirsty Smallman and Danny Carden