STAFF at the University of York have paid tribute to a first-year student who was found dead in her ensuite bathroom.

Lisa Nicholls, 18, of Bradford, began a biochemistry degree at the university last month.

Her body was discovered in the bathroom of her ensuite room at James College on October 25.

Today, Lisa's supervisor, Professor Dale Sanders, paid tribute to Lisa, describing her as a "lovely girl with an outstandingly promising future".

He said that Lisa was an enthusiastic and able student.

He said: "At a tutorial on the Monday before she died, I asked the students to give small oral presentations on selected topics, and Lisa's was brilliant.

"She spoke well and with confidence, arrived with detailed presentational items that she explained incisively to the rest of the group and me, and had even constructed three-dimensional molecular models to illustrate her points.

"In my 19 years as a tutor at this university - and that encompasses hundreds of tutees - I had not witnessed such an inspiring presentation."

A post mortem into Lisa's death showed that she had died of postural asphyxia, in other words her body had got into a position that left her unable to breathe.

Coroner's officer George Rawling said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Lisa's death. It was possible she had slipped and fallen in the bathroom.

Lisa was discovered by a member of the university staff in the early evening. Friends of the student had alerted staff because they had been unable to contact her and had become worried.

An inquest into Lisa's death has been opened and adjourned.

Updated: 11:22 Wednesday, November 06, 2002