THE funeral of Leonie Shaw will be held on Tuesday.

An inquest into the death of the six-year-old, who was hit by a car on the Bishop Auckland bypass, County Durham, last Saturday, was opened and adjourned yesterday.

Meanwhile, Leonie's friends are holding a tribute tonight outside her school, St Andrew's, in South Church at 8pm.

Leonie, known as Lollie, died the morning after the crash, with her mother, Michelle, at her bedside.

Consultant pathologist Dr Clive Bloxham told yesterday's inquest, at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, that she had died from multiple injuries consistent with her being in a road accident.

Leonie's uncle, Melvyn Howard, said he had identified the girl's body soon after she died in the intensive care unit at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

Passing his "sincere sympathy" to the family, Darlington and South Durham Coroner Colin Penna adjourned the hearing until after the completion of criminal proceedings relating to the tragedy.

A funeral service has been arranged for 10am on Tuesday in St Mary's Church, Bishop Auckland. A private interment for family and Michelle's close friends will follow.

Meanwhile, police have asked mourners not to go on to the bypass to read messages of sympathy, which have been left for Leonie on safety railings. Officers were turning the cards round, they said, so that they could be read from the pavement.