Tributes to teacher in death crash

A Cannock teacher who died in a car accident has been named today.

Melanie Till-Bailey, aged 38, of Collier Way, died when the Peugeot 206 she was driving hit a telegraph pole on the A34 Cannock Road yesterday.

Chadsmoor Infant School in Kingsway was closed yesterday in the wake of the news but re-opened today.

Tributes have started to pour in for the teacher and mother of two.

Anne Till, aged 63, of Westbourne Avenue, Cannock, a distant relative, said: "She was a lovely person to be around. It is a very sad loss, really what can you say? It's just tragic."

In her younger days, Melanie was a member of Chadsmoor Choral Society and still kept in touch with its members.

Chairman John Keeling said she would be remembered as a "bubbly, happy person" and sorely missed.

He said: "From our point of view, she was a very talented lady - she was very good at what she did.

"She was so bubbly - if you were in a group with her, you knew she was there. She was just a bubbly, happy person."

Police are still appealing for witnesses to the incident at around 1.15am yesterday.