She enjoyed swimming and going to youth clubs.Chris Luckin, headmaster of Blacklands Primary School, in Hastings, which Billie-Jo attended for two years before moving to secondary school, said: "We remember her as a delightful girl, interested in everything that went on in school."We are absolutely devastated by this tragic event Children and staff are stunned and feel numb. We feel particularly for the other members of her family." Mr Luckin said staff at the 500-pupil school were in tears as the children were told of Billie-Jo's death Three of her sisters still attend the school.. Covent Garden, in the heart of London, famous for its side-show acts, was graced with entertainment of an educational kind yesterday. After the mime artists and fire jugglers vacated the main piazza, John Fisher, a cash-strapped headmaster, took centre stage, in an attempt to raise pounds 50,000 needed to save a teaching post at his run-down school. Faced with the fourth consecutive year of budgetary cuts, Mr Fisher, 49, of the Rush Common Primary School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, decided it was time to take a leaf out of its students' books, and get a holiday job busking to raise finances.He said: "Something had to be done if teaching standards are to be maintained. We are in a desperate situation and I thought it was time to raise awareness of the problem we face."Pupils at the school are at present being taught in classes of between 35 and 40, under leaking roofs, in poorly decorated buildings which they cannot afford to repair.But the first London appearance of the guitar and banjo-playing duo, called Paddy and Taff, did not go according to plan.As the rain lashed down, passers-by rarely glanced from behind their umbrellas to watch the act Their first gig in the capital brought in only pounds 5.10. Mr Fisher and his singing partner, Colin Miles, 50, who have so far raised pounds 600 on the first leg of their round-Britain tour, doubted they would reach their optimistic target."We have had a tremendous response from the public, who have said it is sad we have had to resort to this but, realistically, I don't think we'll raise pounds 50,000 - but the money has to come from somewhere," said Mr Fisher.But all is not lost for the group, as their fan base has rapidly grown to include the likes of the Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown.After watching an earlier performance, Mr Ashdown said: "What kind of society are we living in when a headmaster has to spend his half-term busking to pay for a teacher? It is a joke that this is what Britain's education system has come to."Another groupie, Celia Bowden, a bursar on a day-trip from Oxfordshire, said it was good to see people with a talent taking things into their own hands when all other approaches have failed.Although the "Face The Music" tour continues to Nottingham, Durham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Coventry, Mr Fisher was not letting the group's sudden rise to fame get to his head.He said: "We do enjoy playing and write a lot of our own material, but I don't think the Spice Girls have much to worry about."We are more a particular brand of `old spice' and cater for a very different kind of audience.".

Police and airport authorities have warned protesters digging tunnels at the site of the proposed second runway at Manchester Airport that they risk causing a methane gas explosion. The protesters said yesterday no one had told them directly of the danger. But they said they had stopped using candles in the network to reduce the risk of gas igniting. Contractors working at the airport first raised the issue. A Manchester airport spokeswoman said they were told there was a risk of natural methane from vegetation at the site and they had passed the information to police.Chief Inspector Tim Burgess said the gas was one of several risks the protesters face. "We have been warning protesters for the last four weeks about the dangers of tunnelling. These dangers include tunnel collapse, the possibility of methane being present, the lack of oxygen and the standard of the site itself." Police would continue to liaise directly with the protesters, he said.But Ian, a protester from Wigan, angrily denied methane was a problem or that they had been warned of it.

The police had first mentioned the possible danger in an interview on local radio and the protesters suspected it was a scare tactic, he said: "The police didn't come and contact us."Ian said that safety was paramount and they had experienced diggers carrying out the work, which followed similar tunnel protests at Newbury, Berkshire, and along the site of the A30 protest in Devon."We have got geologists who have been in and checked everything and there is absolutely no danger."About 30 people are on two sites adjacent to the airport at present and more are expected as the year goes on. The demonstrators have set up camp on land bought by Manchester City Council on behalf of Manchester Airport plc for the planned second runway.. The hallowed turf of Twickenham, the home of rugby union, could soon be trod by professional footballers. It would be the first time the ground has been used for anything other than rugby union.