AN inquest into the death of a 15-year-old Thurrock boy who drowned in Alexandra Lake, Lakeside, last year heard a tribute from his family when details of his death were considered.

The hearing into the death of Asyer Bernard-Daley from Tilbury, who went missing in the lake around 8.50pm on July 31 last year, heard a huge search followed his disappearance but his body was not recovered until the following day.

The lake was closed and the coroner's court heard Asyer was with 11 of his friends when they entered the locked-up lake to play on an inflatable obstacle course.

Ayser, who could not swim, slipped and fell into the water and despite efforts by some of his friends, the fully clothed boy slipped away from their grasp could not pull him from the lake and his body disappeared, to eventually be recovered by divers

A letter written by the family and read out by senior coroner Lincoln Brookes described Asyer as being a "lovely person".

"Asyer was a happy, loving child and had great manners and a lot of respect for everyone," it said.

"There's not a bad thing anyone could say about Asyer.

"He always made everyone smile when they were down. Asyer was always advanced for his age, very clever. He also loved being outside.

"He loved doing things all the time," it added, like "going to the zoo" and "theme parks". He loved being outside. He would do anything to go out the house.

"He was the life and soul of the party. He loved his music and to dance all the time.

"Asyer's a lovely person. We miss him so much. There's not a day that goes by where Mum or Dad don't cry missing our son. We still can't believe our special boy is gone forever."

The law says that the coroner must open an inquest into a death if there is a reasonable cause to suspect that the death was due to anything other than natural causes.

The inquest heard police had decided there was no need for a criminal investigation, and it was assessed that there was no negligence on behalf of the Aqua Park Group who ran the inflatable park.

The coroner recorded the death as accidental.

The Aqua park is due to reopen for the summer in June.