An inquest into the death of a 13-year-old girl who choked to death on her school dinner has heard of the desperate attempts to help her.

Isabel Pearce died the day after the tragic incident, which happened while she was eating lunch at Ridge View School in Tonbridge in January.

The inquest began at Gravesend Old Town Hall today, and is scheduled to continue until Wednesday afternoon.

Isabel's parents, Jane and Anthony Pearce, sat side by side today to hear evidence from staff at the Cage Green school, where Isabel had been a pupil for around 18 months.

"It was not a normal noise, I stood up straight away and gave her back slaps. She grabbed my arm and she was pointing to her mouth, she was panicked" - Jennifer Seymour

Senior coroner Roger Hatch was told Isabel, who suffers from severe autism and a rare genetic disorder - Sotos Syndrome - was being supervised by two members of staff while eating spaghetti and meatballs for lunch.

The court heard she refused to let special needs school teaching assistant, Jennifer Seymour, cut her dinner up.

Mr Hatch was told teachers usually over-ride Isabel's wishes if they believe it is in the interest of her safety or that of other students.

Miss Seymour, who at the time had been employed by the school for three-and-a-half-years, told the court she believed Isabel had no issues with chewing or swallowing so let her continue eating.

Miss Seymour looked away for a few seconds before hearing Isabel gagging and choking.

"It was not a normal noise, I stood up straight away and gave her back slaps. She grabbed my arm and she was pointing to her mouth, she was panicked," Miss Seymour added.

Isabel's class teacher, Julian Salmond, began carrying out abdominal thrusts and back slaps. He said he thought Isabel became more responsive minutes later as she stood up.

He could not see past her tongue but said he believed she was breathing. She was led into the school's reception area.

Mr Salmond or Miss Seymour could not tell the family's barrister, Paula Clements, if an ambulance had been called during this time.

Moments later Mr Salmond was called back to Isabel's side. He told the court her skin was very pale and her lips had turned blue. He began carrying out abdominal thrusts again and placed her in the recovery position.

The court heard paramedics arrived and removed a whole meatball from Isabel's mouth. She was taken to Tunbridge Wells Hospital but sadly died the next day.

During today's session questions were raised about information on Isabel's care plan.

Mr Hatch was told an "essential information" form which lays on top of the pack, giving teachers an overview of Isabel's needs, said she was an independent eater, however, a more detailed plan inside said she would only use a fork to eat and required help cutting up hard foods.

Mr Salmond, who was on a phased return to work at the time, said although the wording is different he believes the meaning to be similar and had no concerns about the allegedly conflicting information.

The plans are reviewed annually and sent home for parental approval.

Miss Clements said upon receiving the updated plan Mr and Mrs Pearce made amendments about Isabel requiring assistance eating, but staff from Ridge View School say these amendments were never received.

The inquest continues.