Floral tributes left for victims

Floral tributes have been left in front of a fire-damaged house where a man and his 10-year-old daughter died.

Crews tried to save Garry Bolton, 47, and his daughter Paige from their terraced home in Wensley Avenue, Cottingham, near Hull on Saturday.

Post-mortem tests are due to take place on Tuesday to establish the cause of Paige’s death. Tests on her father were carried out on Sunday.

Police said the force was in the early stages of a “very complicated” inquiry.

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said officers believed “the girl who passed away to be [Mr Bolton’s] 10-year-old daughter Paige, although she will not be formally identified until a post mortem-examination has been completed.”

Officers are working to identify the cause of the blaze, which started shortly before 07:50 GMT.

The fire service said Mr Bolton, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and his daughter, who died later in hospital, were the only people in the property at the time.

A neighbour said he tried to rescue the pair after seeing smoke coming from the building.

Carl Goodfellow said he shouted through the letterbox to try to raise the alarm and also tried to break the door down.

“I was banging on the window to try and get some attention, but there was nothing,” he said.

Stuart Richardson, headteacher of Skidby CE Primary School, where Paige was a pupil since 2017, said the school was “deeply saddened by their deaths”.

“Paige was a well-liked pupil with a strong character and a great sense of humour and she will be dearly missed by all at Skidby.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and friends at this very difficult time,” he said.

He said Paige and her father had been “important members of the school community”.

Mr Bolton attended a training programme run by Hull-based charity CatZero – which aims to helps parents to find work, education or volunteering opportunities – in 2018.

In a statement, the company said: “CatZero extends its deepest condolences to all the family of Garry and Paige and the team is here to support relatives in any way it can in the weeks and months ahead.”

Police said they were continuing to support the families of those involved “at this very difficult time”.