A teenage model has been stabbed to death just as her career had begun to blossom. Amy Leigh Barnes, 19, had moved into her own flat recently after living with her parents. She was found dead there at the weekend.

The former public schoolgirl had taken part in photoshoots for Playboy and Cosmopolitan magazines, was a finalist in the Miss British Isles modelling competition in 2007 and in last year's Model of the Year competition. A friend said that she had dated several Premier League footballers.

Her body was found in Farnworth, near Bolton, Greater Manchester, on Saturday morning. A man aged 21 was arrested 100 miles away in the West Midlands on Saturday evening. He was taken back to Manchester and was being questioned by detectives last night.

One friend said: “Amy Leigh was the life and soul of the party. She was very popular and loved going out night after night. She knew loads of footballers and went on dates with them.”

Miss Barnes was a former pupil of the Lords Independent School in Bolton. She left school to study performing arts at Pendleton College in Salford and taught drama to young people at the Phoenix charity in Bolton. Until recently she lived with her mother, Karyn, an artist, and her stepfather, John, in Egerton, near Bolton. In an interview with her local newspaper she said: “I want to stick with modelling now. I've been getting more work and my parents are behind me all the way.”

She had been taken on to the books of the Nemesis casting and model agency recently. She had also dated the Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy. Players on her social networking websites include Fraizer Campbell, of Tottenham Hotspur, Phil Jagielka, of Everton, and Leroy Lita, of Norwich City. A statement issued last night by her family said: “Words cannot express the pain we are in. We will not rest until justice has been done for our gorgeous daughter.”

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old became the 28th teenager to be killed in London this year when he was stabbed to death in a suspected row over a girl. Nabil Bakurally, 19, a student from Mauritius, was attacked in Ilford at 2.30am on Saturday by a group of youths. A friend was seriously injured in the attack.

Friends said Mr Bakurally had been in Britain for three years and was studying at university. They alleged his death was part of a feud between Asian and Mauritian youths in the area.

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