THE parents of the 17-year-old soldier from Larkhill Garrison who died suddenly last week have spoken about the boy whose childhood ambition was a career in the army.

Gunner Michael Riley, who came from the West Midlands, died after collapsing in his accommodation at the camp.

His parents, Keith and Deborah Riley, said Michael had wanted to join up since the age of 12 and had achieved the distinction of gaining a place at the Army Foundation College, which accepts only one in ten applicants.

He had finished the first phase of his training at the AFC in Harrogate and had started on the second stage with 14 Regiment, Royal Artillery, at Larkhill.

Mr Riley said: "He was unbelievable - so full of life, so independent.

"He used to make everyone laugh and he had lots of friends.

"He loved adventure and he was never in because he was always off and over the fields, climbing trees and doing all the things that boys do."

Michael, who had an 18-year-old brother, David, and a 15-year-old sister, Danielle, had arranged his army interviews as soon as he was old enough, barely stopping in his enthusiasm to tell his parents what he was doing, Mr Riley said.

Mrs Riley said: "He was into everything, into fishing, playing the drums and abseiling, and he loved everything outdoors."

News of the tragedy was broken on November 11, the day after he died, to Michael's shocked year group at the school where Danielle is a pupil.

Headteacher Chris Bryan said: "He would have made a superb soldier.

"We were absolutely devastated when the news came into school.

"We always stand as a mark of respect at 11 o'clock on November 11.

"Yesterday, the children didn't just remember those who died in every war, they remembered Michael."

At the opening of an inquest in Salisbury last Wednesday into Michael's death, assistant deputy Wiltshire coroner Nigel Brookes heard that Michael had fallen from a chair and struck his head on the floor after an evening spent with friends, during which he had drunk two to three pints of beer.

Attempts were made to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead at Salisbury District Hospital.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

An investigation is being conducted by Wiltshire police, who have confirmed there are no suspicious circumstances, and Mr Brookes adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.