Police are waiting to tell a mother her nine-year-old daughter is dead and may have been murdered.

Police were today by the hospital bed of Helen Perkins, 41, waiting to break the tragic news.

Ms Perkins and her daughter Mollie were found with serious head injuries in their home.

The mother was taken to hospital in a critical condition but she had improved today.

She remained unconscious but a Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "She is now stable and we expect her to gain consciousness in the next day or so.

"We will then be able to speak to her for the first time to break the tragic news and to get her account of what happened."

Mollie died in hospital on Monday night, a day after she and her mother were found with severe head injuries at their home in Cavalry Crescent, Eastbourne.

Ms Perkins is recovering in Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre in Haywards Heath after being transferred from Eastbourne District General Hospital.

Mollie was transferred from the same hospital to King's College Hospital, London, where she died during the night.

Friends and neighbours have paid tribute to Mollie and many laid floral tributes in the hours after her death, covering the garden of the family home.

One message on a spray of flowers read: "Little Mollie, God bless, sleep tight."

Teachers at Mollie's school described her as a delightful and friendly little girl.

Mark Trott, head teacher of Ocklynge School where she was a pupil, said: "At school, Mollie had developed into a gentle and sociable girl, well liked by her peers and always polite and helpful to adults.

"Like most nine-year-old girls, she was fond of a chat with her friends and was becoming a keen athlete with skills in gymnastics and dance.

"To people who knew her, Mollie was a friendly and delightful girl whose kindly disposition and cheery outlook on life will be sadly missed."

Pupils and members of staff cried when the news was announced during a special assembly.

The Reverend David Gillard of St Elizabeth's church in nearby Victoria Drive, said: "This is desperately sad. Our thoughts and our prayers go to Mollie and everyone who knew her."

Meanwhile, police stepped up their murder investigation and officers appealed for more witnesses to come forward.

A police spokeswoman said: "From the beginning the case has been treated as an attempted murder investigation and so police are now treating it as murder."

Ms Perkins' partner, Michael Hooker, of Northbourne Road, Eastbourne, appeared before Eastbourne magistrates yesterday charged with the attempted murder of Mollie and her mother.

The 49-year-old, who is not thought to be Mollie's father, was arrested at the house in Cavalry Crescent.

He was remanded in custody to July 29 when he is due to appear at Lewes Crown Court.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said a post mortem examination would be carried out on Mollie in the near future.

The mother and her daughter were found by police in a serious condition at about 10pm on Sunday.