An inquest jury today decided the deaths of two teenage girls who died when they were swept down a fast flowing stream while on a school trip were an accident.

The jury, sitting at Harrogate Magistrates Court, heard how Rochelle Cauvet, 14, and 13-year-old Hannah Black were washed away while taking part in a ''river walk'' in Stainforth Beck, near Settle, North Yorkshire on October 10 2000.

The activity was part of a residential week planned by Royds School in Oulton, near Leeds.