Police have named the man they believe was behind the wheel of a high-powered car who drove off leaving a six-year-old girl dying in the road.

Officers said they wanted to trace Colin Meek, 34, following the death of Leonie Shaw yesterday morning.

Leonie, of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, had been to a park on Saturday to play with friends and was understood to be trying to cross a busy road to buy sweets from a shop when she was struck and flung into the opposite carriageway just a few hundred yards from her home.

The car stopped briefly and the driver looked around before driving off.

The Rover 827si was discovered by officers in Teesside today and taken to a police compound for forensic tests.

A Durham Police spokesman said today: ''Accident investigators have taken the unusual step of naming the driver and front seat passenger believed to have been involved in a hit-and-run incident which claimed the life of six-year-old Leonie Shaw.

''The man police believe the man driving the Rover 827si, registration H321 SWG, is 34-year-old Colin Meek, of Salvin Street, Spennymoor, Co Durham.

''It is understood the woman in the front passenger seat was Mr Meek's partner, 21-year-old Emma Jane Lee, of the same address. It is thought Emma's two-year-old daughter was in the back seat.''

Earlier today the tearful headmaster of Leonie's school made an impassioned plea for the driver to turn himself in.

Dave Hutchinson, of St Andrew's Primary School, said the mood there was subdued. Dozens of floral tributes, dolls and cuddly toys were placed on metal railings by the scene of the tragedy.

The school day started with a low-key assembly in which prayers were offered for the six-year-old but Mr Hutchinson said the full horror had yet to sink in for many of the school's 179 children, aged between four and 11.

Mr Hutchinson cried as he said: ''Some of the children are very upset and there is a very subdued feeling in the school.

''Educational psychologists are in school today and helping the pupils.

''The younger children don't fully realise she won't ever be coming back and for some it will take a long time to dawn on them.

''I would urge this person to come forward as there's no benefit in dragging this on. It may bring some sense to all of this and hopefully end it for the family and for the school.''

Leonie's death is the second tragedy to hit the school in three years, following the death of a four-year-old pupil who was killed in a road accident eight miles away.

The school planted a tree and erected a plaque in memory of that girl and plan to do the same for Leonie, possibly in July, when she would have celebrated her seventh birthday.

Despite the proximity of the village school to the busy road, Mr Hutchinson said there had never been any problems with pupils in the five years he had been there and that road safety was regularly impressed upon the pupils.

Leonie's family were today still too upset to speak about the incident and were said by Inspector Dave Hammond, who is leading the investigation, to be ''inconsolable''.

Leonie, of St Cuthbert's Walk, Bishop Auckland, died in the town's general hospital early on Sunday morning with her 33-year-old mother Michelle at her bedside.

Leonie lived with her mother and two sisters, Emily, two, and 11-year-old Jade.

Relative Colleen Goldsborough, 36, who lives next door to the distraught family, has also urged the driver to give himself up.

She said: ''I just hope the man who did this has the decency to come forward. I just can't believe he just left her lying there.

''She was such a lovely little girl and everyone loved her. The whole family has been devastated by this.''

Police urged the public not to approach Mr Meek. Inspector Hammond added: ''We need to trace the couple as quickly as possible as they are vital to the investigation and they are the only ones who can tell us why they drove away. ''Public emotions are currently running high and we don't want any members of the public who see Mr Meek to approach him, we simply want them to get in touch with us.''