A SCHOOL was in mourning yesterday following news that a popular young teacher had died suddenly at her home in Darlington.

Pupils and staff at Teesdale Comprehensive School, in Barnard Castle, were told during morning lessons that 27-year-old history teacher Lynne Brannan had died on Friday night.

The exact cause of her death will not be known until a post mortem examination has been carried out. Police are not treating her death as suspicious.

Miss Brannan, who suffered from epilepsy, began teaching at Teesdale Comprehensive School in September 1999, after working for a year as a supply teacher in her home town of Dunfermline.

Headteacher Paul Harrison said pupils and colleagues had been devastated by the news of her death.

He said: "Staff and pupils are all in a state of shock at the tragic death of Miss Brannan. It will take us some time to come to terms with it. She was a well-loved teacher, and at the start of her career."

Mr Harrison said the school would be holding a special assembly in the next few days in memory of Miss Brannan.

Miss Brannan's father was travelling down from Dunfermline yesterday after relatives were notified of her death.