British Ice Skating has paid tribute to ice dancing pioneer Catherine Robinson, right, who has died ©British Ice Skating

Former figure skater Catherine "Kay" Robinson, a star of British ice dance before the discipline was admitted to the Olympics and with her partner Michael Robinson won medals at three European Championships, has died.

After her competitive career, she remained in the sport as a team leader with the British team and also judged in domestic competitions.

Su Jackson-Wagner, who competed at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo and is now a respected skating coach, described her on social media as "a lovely kind and compassionate Team GB leader."

"She stayed involved in skating after retiring, looking after skaters at competitions worldwide and later judged competitions in the UK, and will be sorely missed by her family and friends," British Ice Skating said in a tribute.

In her competition days she was known by her maiden name as "Kay" Morris and danced with Michael Robinson.

Her career coincided with that of a group of highly talented British ice dancers, includeing June Markham and Courtney Jones, world and European champions in 1957 and 1958.

Morris and Robinson won bronze at the 1957 European Championships in Vienna in a British clean sweep of the medals behind Markham and Jones and Barbara Thompson and Gerard Rigby who took silver.

The following year in Bratislava, they claimed silver behind Markham and Jones and another silver in 1959 when Doreen Denny had joined Jones to take gold.

Robinson, who died on April 25, came from Nottingham, by coincidence the hometown of future Olympic champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.