The father of a "loveable rogue" has told of his sense of loss following his teenage son's death in a motorcycle accident.

Richard Tomkins, 17, died after the motorbike he was riding off-road hit a wall at Wytham Woods on Saturday.

Richard Tomkins

He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, with serious head and neck injuries, and died the next day.

Richard's father Ian, a 45-year-old paramedic, and his mother, nursery supervisor Karen, 43, were on holiday in Kent when the accident happened. They rushed back to be at their son's bedside.

Speaking from his home in Eynsham Road, Botley, Oxford, Mr Tomkins said his son had "always been this loveable rogue", who had lived an "eventful" life.

Richard, who has two sisters Laura, 21, and Pauline,15, was studying to be a mechanic at Abingdon College.

The former pupil of Matthew Arnold School, Oxford, had left the house on Saturday to meet a group of friends, carrying a crash helmet belonging to Laura.

He was not wearing the helmet when the accident happened and it is not known who owned the motorcycle.

Mr Tomkins said Richard was "larking around" with the motorbike on a rough track with his friends. He said one of the group had shouted at Richard to slow down but he rode into a wall.

The Tomkins family said they did not blame anyone for the incident and wanted to thank the emergency services, medical staff and a car driver who was flagged down on the A34 for help by Richard's friends.

Mr Tomkins said: "At first we were angry but no-one had tied him to the motorbike. He chose to get on it and he was enjoying it.

"We know that lads there were terrified, and they tried to do their best for him. We don't hold anyone responsible. It was just a waste of life."

He added: "Every day I get up with another thought and another reason to cry. That's just me - we are all coping differently."

He wanted to scotch rumours that the motorcycle exploded. He said Richard's friends had set light to it.

"I suppose it was anger - blaming the bike. They have destroyed it," Mr Tomkins said.

His funeral will be held at St Michael's Church, Cumnor, at 2pm on Wednesday , and friends and family are invited to celebrate his "short but very full life" afterwards at the village hall.

An inquest into Richard's death has been opened and adjourned in Oxford.