Praise for 'talented' student killed in Tay kayak tragedy

TRIBUTES have been paid to a "talented and friendly" teenager who died in a kayaking accident on the River Tay.

Simon Fletcher died when his kayak became trapped under rocks on Wednesday.

Emergency services could not reach the 19-year-old at the scene in Grandtully, Perthshire, because of the fast-flowing water.

His body was recovered 28 hours later when rescuers broke through the kayak's hull.

Mr Fletcher, from Stockton-on-Tees, was part of a group of kayakers from the Tees Tigers club, based in Cleveland.

He was a first-year mechanical engineering student at Northumbria University in Newcastle. A university spokesman said he was a very popular student.

He said: "We are saddened by Simon's death and our thoughts are with his family and friends. He was talented and friendly and will be greatly missed."