The family of Tipton St John teenager Daniel Chambers have paid tribute to an ‘amazing, kind, sensitive, thoughtful and caring’ son and brother.

Daniel, 15, went missing last Wednesday and police discovered his body in a field by the River Otter, near the village, on Saturday following a search.

His family have thanked everyone involved in the search – including the police, the fire and rescue service, the public, the local and school community, neighbours and Daniel’s family and friends.

In a statement to the Herald, the family said Daniel’s death was a ‘tragic accident’ and that they have taken great comfort in the love shown to him.

“We have been overwhelmed by the amount of support we have received over the last week, and Daniel would have been touched by the love and care everyone has shown. Thank you,” said the family.

“We are completely devastated by the loss of our son. He truly was an amazing son and brother. He will be deeply missed by everyone and even touched the hearts of people who did not know him well. He was a good person in every way and a young gentleman with a full heart.

“He was, and still is, our gorgeous boy, beautiful inside and out - even though saying this would probably make him cringe with embarrassment.

“Daniel was all you could have asked of a son - he was kind, sensitive, thoughtful, caring, loving and made us all smile.

“He was a beautiful person in every way. He was a football fan and enjoyed playing and watching. He was an awesome goalie and a Manchester United and Exeter City fan.

“Daniel enjoyed camping and family holidays in Cornwall, walking and took part in his Duke of Edinburgh with school.

“Daniel talked about the future, like visiting his older sister, Melissa, at uni and partying with her, travelling abroad and possibly joining the forces as a career. He was looking forward to Christmas and his birthday with a PlayStation 4 on his list for Santa.”

Melissa said: “Being Daniel’s sister, we grew up as most siblings do, arguing over meaningless things like the TV remote or which slice of cake was the biggest; but the sheer amount of good memories and laughter we shared together cannot be measured.

“He was the perfect brother - kind, caring and considerate. He liked to call me his ‘little sis’ and he was my ‘big bro’ because of how he would loom over me since he was so tall. He knew it made me annoyed and I think that’s why he said it. Thinking back on it, the little jokes we shared together are one of the many reasons why I loved him so much and why I will miss him forever.”

The family added: “He was Daniel to us, but Dan to his friends, and it made him happy to be with them both in and out of school - he would always share their good times with us, of how they fell off their bikes, their bonding on Duke of Edinburgh and their laughter together. His friends made his life very special and that means so much to us.

“When visiting his school, we were speechless by the sheer amount of tributes, flowers, letters, candles and tokens of love left by the school community. It is comforting to know that everyone loved Daniel as much as we did. He would have been surprised just how popular and cared for he was.

“His death was a tragic accident and a loss of his life which was just beginning. We will never see him grow into manhood, fall in love or achieve amazing things. The world has lost an amazing young man. We cannot comprehend or accept life without him and our world will never be the same again.

“We will celebrate his life by keeping him in our hearts and memories forever and ‘living life to the brim’ in his memory, as he would wish us to. Fly high, shine bright our gorgeous boy.”

Rob Gammon, headteacher of The King’s School, where Daniel was a year 11 student, said: “Dan was one of those people who just got on with things and was a quiet and unassuming student. He was hard-working, popular with his peers and had a good circle of friends.

“Our deepest sympathies are with his family and friends at this terrible time.”

Mr Gammon said special assemblies had been held at the school to inform students of the tragedy.

Additional support was being provided to pupils by local clergy and Devon County Council educational psychologists throughout the week.