TRIBUTES poured in last night to a tragic Huddersfield teenager.

Lydia Grace North died aged just 18 from heart problems.

She had suffered since birth with a heart defect.

But despite her illness, Lydia was described by friends and former schoolteachers as a happy, smiling girl with a wonderful personality.

Lydia lived with her family in Lindley and was a student at Kirklees College, having previously studied at Salendine Nook High School.

She has two brothers and a sister.

Dozens of friends have left warm tributes on social network sites including Facebook.

One close friend, Doran Jordan, said: “As bright and as bubbly as a person could be on her day, she battled against all the odds to come through countless hospital visits and was an inspiration to me.

“She would sometimes understandably be under the weather and downbeat, but I was glad she always came to me or her other great friends to share her thoughts rather than bottling them up inside.

“I remember when myself and two of her best friends, Sarah Hind and Becci Whittaker, went to visit her in hospital in Leeds and still she was smiling and insisted we went on a random adventure around the hospital, which just typified her crazy, happy and random outlook on life.

“I also remember when she was trying to explain the operation that she was about to have, and to help explain she drew a crazy-looking diagram which we all, including Lydia, just laughed at.

“No-one deserved what she went through as regards to her health conditions and I know she tried her best to block it out of her mind and to soldier on, which I admired about her.

“She loved her friends, McDonald’s, music, clothes and make-up, having a good old moan and general banter.

“She will be truly missed as can be seen on Facebook pages with the countless number of messages of condolences.”

Mrs Liz Tandy, assistant head at Salendine Nook, was Lydia’s year tutor for her five years at the school.

She said: “It is a terrible tragedy which has hit everyone at the school. We are all very sad about it.

“Lydia was a really popular girl. She never made anything of her heart problems but was always very pleasant, quiet and popular.

“Everywhere she went she had a smile on her face.

“She even used to joke about her health problems and I would jokingly tell her that she could not use it as an excuse for being late with coursework.

“It is sad for everyone who knew her”.