A grieving family have spoken of their devastation after a “lively and bubbly” 17-year-old girl died in a road accident as she walked with her teenage sweetheart on Valentine’s Day.

Chelsie Baines, a pupil at Bradford Academy, died at Bradford Royal Infirmary from injuries she suffered in the collision with a van in Tong Street.

Her 16-year-old boyfriend was badly injured. He was described as being in a serious condition at BRI last night.

Chelsie, of Wyke, had been spending time with her boyfriend who lives in Holme Wood, her step-father Jason Ogden, 38, told the Telegraph & Argus.

They had been crossing Tong Street near the junction with Knowles Lane on Tuesday afternoon when the accident with a LDV van occurred.

Chelsie lived with her mother Helen, 36, her step-father, and two sisters 13-year-old Bethany and three-year-old Maddison. She had been in a relationship with her boyfriend for about a year, said her family.

Mr Ogden spoke of their grief at Chelsie’s death, whom he described as being “taken away” from them.

He said: “She enjoyed music and liked to dance around.

“She liked films – horrors and comedies, musicals. She was lively and bubbly, a typical 17-year-old, she was feisty.”

He said he had visited her friends’ Facebook pages and seen “comments after comments” paying tribute to her.

Mr Ogden said: “She wanted to be a carer for older people. She was quite good with any age, friendly and caring, but she wanted to look after older people.”

He said the family was “distraught” and was struggling to believe what had happened.

Mr Ogden said he and his wife had rushed to the scene of the accident to be with Chelsie after they learned of the crash.

Councillor Michael Johnson (Lab, Tong), whose ward covers the location where the tragedy occurred, said: “I am concerned that someone has lost their life.

“It is a very busy road, usually fairly slow moving around the rush hour period, as it can be a very congested road. It is a very sad incident.”

Police are continuing to appeal for witnesses to the collision, which happened at 4.25pm as the van was driven along Tong Street, away from Dudley Hill towards Tong.

It is not known at this stage whether the couple were crossing the road at a pedestrian crossing.

Bradford Coroner’s office has been informed of Chelsie’s death and an inquest was expected to be opened today or tomorrow.

Witnesses or anyone with any information which could assist officers should contact the Major Collision Enquiry Team on the non-emergency number 101.