A CORONER says he wants lessons to be learned after a teenager fell to her death on one of East Lancashire’s busiest roads.

Promising student Rachel Collins lost her life after suffering a serious head injury in the incident on the A56 last October, Burnley Coroner’s Court was told.

But the family of the 17-year-old was concerned she was left without anti-depressant medication for six weeks after a mental health assessment the previous August.

An inquest heard there had been a mix-up and the sixth-former only realised she should have gone to her GP to collect the pills herself following a later appointment.

Her father Sean Collins told the hearing: “She was under the impression after the assessment that the medication would be made available to her.”

Rachelle Smith, a specialist triage service team leader at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed while a GP would have been notified of the medication, the patient would still be required to arrange a follow-up appointment.

Mr Collins, who went to the session with his daughter but waited outside, said he did not feel it was right for the emphasis to be placed on a vulnerable teenager.

“We just want to make sure this does not happen to any other young girl,” he added, describing Rachel as “intelligent, witty and articulate”.

Her mother, Melanie Wilson, said her daughter “didn’t like to disappoint” and would not always “say what she meant” when discussing her difficulties. Later area coroner Richard Taylor said he was satisfied lessons could be learned from Rachel’s death, including issues surrounding medications.

The inquest was told the teenager, of Bury Road, Rawtenstall, who attended Haslingden High School's sixth form, had been experiencing difficulties with her studies and had e-mailed some of her tutors on the Sunday before her death.

In a statement Robert Kirk, her German A-Level tutor at the sixth form, said he tried talk with Rachel about the e-mail after class but she appeared withdrawn.

She never returned to lessons after lunch and an eyewitness saw her fall from the bridge a short time later.

Returning a suicide conclusion, coroner Mr Taylor said her death could not have been predicted and added: “The problems that she seemed to have overwhelmed her on that day.”