A 10-year-old girl has died after being caught in a North Yorkshire mudslide.

Leah Harrison, a Year 6 pupil at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Darlington, was killed in an incident on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said they were called to the mudslide in Carlton-in-Cleveland at 13:15 BST. No other injuries were reported.

Chief executive of Leah’s school, Nick Blackburn, said she was “much-loved” and it was a “heartbreaking tragedy”.

In a statement, he said the full details were “still emerging”.

Mr Blackburn said: “Leah was a much-loved part of our school and our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and the school staff.

“Counselling is being arranged within the school for pupils and staff.

“We are all in a state of shock and we would ask that the privacy of the family and the school community is respected while we try to come to terms with what has happened.”

A Met Office yellow weather warning was in place for the area yesterday as heavy rain fell.

BBC Yorkshire climate correspondent Paul Hudson said Loftus, around 20 miles away, saw a month’s worth of rain fall in 12 hours.

The Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) confirmed it despatched volunteers to the incident, which occurred on Carlton Bank.

A Cleveland MRT spokesperson said: “Nineteen Cleveland MRT members were deployed immediately, eventually rising to 30 at the scene during the course of the afternoon and working alongside their emergency service colleagues including the North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, in addition to the ambulance services.

“The thoughts of the mountain rescue volunteers are with the family and friends of the deceased during such a very sad time.”