​A 15-year-old public schoolgirl fell to her death from a road bridge after she suffered problems at school, an inquest heard.

Holly Grogan was tormented by three classmates and messages on the social networking site Facebook poking fun at her.

The girls told her not to attend a mutual friend's party - and she was found dead hours later after falling 30ft onto a busy dual carriageway.

Holly's father Steve Grogan, 45, broke down as he told the inquest at Shire Hall in Gloucester of his regrets at not raising issues of bullying with the school.

He said: ''Holly was a very spirited girl with a bubbly character and she loved to be loved and liked people to like her.

"Holly was very social and her whole life revolved around friendships. You can't underestimate how important they were to her.

"Holly did have a number of good friends at the school but she had issues with three other girls.

"Holly received an invitation to her friend's party and she was very happy about this.

"But the next day she was asked to step out of a changing room during PE by the three girls, who went on to ask Holly if she had slept with her friend's 17-year-old brother.

"Holly said their questioning and accusations upset her and made her cry. The girls went on to say that Holly shouldn't go the party.''

He added: "At 9.45pm Holly asked if she could come into our bed for a cuddle.

"I got up to have a shower in the morning and my wife Anita went to wake Holly and noticed her bed hadn't been slept in. There was a note on the desk.

"I believe that it was the events of the day that tipped Holly over the edge.

"She wrote: 'I don't want to name names but I just wish people could learn to forgive and forget and be more considerate to people and let people move on'.

"We never raised the issue of bullying with the school. Holly certainly didn't want us to and, in hindsight, we wish we had. It was the wrong decision.''

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Holly joined the £11,607 a year St Edward's School, in Charlton Kings, in September 2006, after she "fell in with a bad crowd" at her previous school in Newent.

However, in 2008 she began suffering relationship problems with her schoolfriends and in spring 2009 she began displaying "attention seeking behaviour".

She told friends she had epilepsy, her parents had split up, she had an older brother who had died, she had a holiday cottage in Devon, and suffered a broken arm during a hockey lesson - none of which was true.

Her group of friends "held a grudge against her" as a result, the inquest heard.

Holly's parents took her to a local GP and she began seeing counsellor Lorraine Cooper in March 2009.

After enjoying a holiday camping in Devon with her family and a friend, who cannot be named, she returned to school in September 2009.

On Tuesday September 15, her parents described her as being "very happy" after the same friend invited her to a party.

However, the following day three girls took her aside during a PE lesson and accused her of sleeping with that friend's brother.

They told her not to attend the party and Holly's friend later sent her a text saying it would "be better if she did not attend".

She was found on the road under Pirton Lane Bridge, in Churchdown, at around 11pm later that day.

Holly was pronounced dead at the scene before the busy dual carriageway A40

was closed by police for four hours.

She had left a four-page note on her desk expressing her love for family and friends.

Holly's friend of three years said: '"She felt people were mean to her. I felt she was being bullied - they didn't understand how much it affected Holly.

"There were three girls who spread rumours about her and called her names. They even made up a syndrome called 'HGS', Holly Grogan Syndrome, which was put on Facebook and discussed by other girls.

"Holly didn't have access to that because she'd been taken off the group of friends. I forwarded it to her and she was very upset and started crying."

Eyewitness Alistair Cameron told the inquest how Holly was wearing blue Nike tracksuit bottoms, Ugg Boots and red puffer jacket when he spotted her lying in the fast lane.

Dr Andrew Nash, headteacher at St Edward's School, told the inquest: '"Holly's relations with some of her peers, particularly girls, had some problems.

"Friendships do seem to have loomed very large for Holly.

"Holly got herself into real social difficulty by inventing stories about herself to her friends.

"Her friends reactions caused her great embarassment and upset. She was found crying in the toilets during one lesson.

"Since her death, we've found out that Holly's friend showed Holly unpleasant comments about her on a social networking website but we had no knowledge of this at school.

"We worry about Facebook because that is something that is completely out of our control."

Deputy Gloucestershire Coroner David Dooley, who recorded that Holly took her own life, said earlier it appeared the girls had “set themselves up as moral arbiter on something when it was nothing to do with them”.

Summing up the case Mr Dooley said: “It was clear that she craved forgiveness for the lies she told and the desperate position she put herself in from a social standpoint, and didn’t see a way of getting out of that.

“She was a very kind person and even in her extensive note that she left, she was not at all vindictive to anyone but expressed her love to her family and friends and expressed sorrow that she had not been forgiven by members of her school.

“But on the other hand this is adolescent behaviour. I’ve not seen anything in the emails that suggest there was anything outwardly abusive or aggressive.”

He added, “it is a question of perception.”

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After the hearing, Peter Walsh, chairman of the school’s trustees, said: “Holly’s death came as a terrible shock to everyone. Holly and her family will always be in our hearts. May she rest in peace.”

Speaking after her death, devastated parents Steve and Anita, 44, and brother Tom, 17, warned parents to be aware of the dangers of websites like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace.

In a statement, they said: "Holly struggled to cope with the huge pressures placed upon her by the modern complexities of ''friendship groups'' and social networking.

"I'm sure every responsible parent will empathise with our constant battle to instil self belief and confidence in our children.

"Holly's outwardly vivacious zest for life was apparent to all who knew her. We shared 15 wonderful years with Holly and to us she will be forever young."