A STUDENT from Horton has fallen to his death after a freak paragliding accident.

Twenty-five year old Ross Barlow from Cornerway, was killed after crashing into a hillside on Sunday morning.

He had been paragliding on the Long Mynd near the Midlands Gliding Club in Shropshire when the tragedy happened.

Ross was flown by air ambulance to hospital but died shortly after arriving.

The former student of Chipping Sodbury Secondary School was recently awarded a bursary to attend Atlantic College in South Wales and had been studying for a PhD at Birmingham University.

Before going to university he had lived in Horton with his parents and younger brother Leigh for 15 years.

Keith and Alison Barrow described their son as "one of life's enthusiasts who lived life to the full."

In a joint statement they said: "He loved outdoor pursuits and was a keen walker and canoeist. Paragliding was his most recent venture. He was pursuing his lifelong ambition to become airborne."

The accident came just hours before a 40 year-old man was injured after crash-landing on the same spot.

He was taken to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital with severe spinal injuries.

Insp Keith Gee, of West Mercia Police, said the incidents did not appear to be connected and the cause of the crashes was unclear.

The South Shropshire coroner Anthony Sibcey has been notified and a joint investigation between the police and the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association is under way.

The Gazette was unable to contact the Midland Gliding Club at the time of going to press.