A father has said his family is "beyond devastated" after his daughter died of meningitis, as the strain of the disease in an outbreak in Kent is identified.

He said the family have "no words to express their loss" after Juliette, a sixth form pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham, died on Saturday.

The 18-year-old died following an outbreak of "invasive" meningitis in the Canterbury area, which also left a 21-year-old University of Kent student dead and 11 people ill.

Meanwhile, Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said meningitis B was the strain behind the cases.

MenB is the most common cause of meningococcal meningitis in the UK, but routine vaccinations were only rolled out in 2015 so the current generation of students and others in their late teens would not be covered.

Juliette's head teacher, Amelia McIlroy, said she was "a genuinely caring and attentive listener, a true friend who listened with warmth, respect and sincere interest to her peers and to our staff".

"In short, she was a lovely girl," she added.

More than 30,000 people across Canterbury have been contacted by UKHSA, which called the outbreak "particularly large" and "unprecedented in recent years".

Students continued to queue to receive "precautionary antibiotics" at the University of Kent on Tuesday morning.

George Doubtfire, who studies film at the university, told the BBC many students were leaving the campus and heading home.

Another student, Crystal MacPherson, said she was planning to stay indoors.

"People have died - it is quite crazy," the 21-year-old added.

Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunisation at the UKHSA, told BBC Radio 5 Live the agency's response to the MenB outbreak had been "very swift", after some raised questions about the speed of response.

She said the first cases were identified on Saturday.

The initial cases "were taken extremely seriously", she added, with public health teams immediately "identifying the closest contacts who would benefit from preventative antibiotics".

Amirthalingam said the pace of this outbreak is "certainly unusual", with several cases appearing in a short period of time.

The outbreak is thought to be linked to a nightclub event in Canterbury, with the UKHSA urging anyone who visited Club Chemistry on 5, 6 or 7 March to "come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precautionary measure".

The University of Kent has said its campus would remain open, despite all scheduled assessments for the next few days being cancelled.

Antibiotics will also be available from 08:30 GMT at the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Westgate Hall in Canterbury and the Carey Building at Thanet Hub in Westwood.

Routine vaccination against MenB for babies and young children was rolled out from 2015, while children aged 13 or 14 are offered vaccination against other meningitis strains in a programme run through schools.

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