FOND tributes have been left near Newton Abbot Racecourse where a teenage girl was found in a collapsed state.

Dozens of floral messages, naming the tragic youngster as Rachel Denbow, have been left on the cycle path at the back of the sporting venue near the new Town Quay bridge.

Police were called to the scene late on Thursday night amid fears for the girl’s welfare in nearby Collett Way.

The alarm was raised just a few minutes before midnight.

A police spokesman confirmed on Tuesday, April 3: ‘She was taken to Torbay District Hospital where she was later pronounced deceased.’

She added that the death of the girl, thought to be 16 and a student at South Devon College and formerly of Newton Abbot College, was not being treated as suspicious.

‘A file will be prepared for the coroner,’ said the spokeswoman.

One tribute on social media referred to the girl as an individual who was often ‘smiling and laughing with her friends.’

She added: ‘I can’t believe that I am having to talk about somebody so young in the past tense. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.’