A TEACHER broke down as she told an inquest yesterday how she saw one of her pupils swept to her death in a fast-flowing river.

Liz Schofield, 25, was one of two teachers leading a group of 15 children on a river walk at Stainforth Beck, near Settle, North Yorkshire, on October 10 2000, as part of a residential trip.

Two girls on the walk, Hannah Black, 13, and Rochelle Cauvet, 14, were swept away by the water and died.

Durham University graduate Miss Schofield told the Harrogate inquest that she had been at the back of the group, from Royds School, Oulton, near Leeds, when she heard shouts from the children.

She said she saw Rochelle being swept past, facing in the direction of the flow, with her feet in front of her.

She said: ''She was just in front of me. I certainly saw her face as she came to my left. I just had to do something so I turned round and followed her down.''

The maths teacher described how she let herself be taken by the current, but clambered out when she realised it was futile.

She said she heard then that Hannah had also gone into the river. Moments later, one of the boys was being swept away, so she and other pupils pulled him out.

Miss Schofield said she had been on eight river walks before the tragic incident, but had never been to Stainforth Beck before.

She said she had never seen, or even heard of, handbooks by the Department for Education and Employment and Leeds City Council on outdoor activities until after the tragedy.

Royds School headteacher Peter Roberts, is due to give evidence today