Teenager Amy Hall died of a heroin overdose seven years after watching her father plunge to his death in a freak hiking accident.

The body of the 18-year-old was discovered in a bedroom at her home in Ferry Road, New Marston, just two days before her A-level results were due to be announced.

Relatives are comforting Amy's mum Jane and her other children, Sian and Alfred.

The vicar of local church St Michael's, the Rev Elaine Bardwell, told the Oxford Mail: "They have been through their father's death too, so they are aware of what is going on. They seem to be coping."

Amy was only 11 when she saw her dad Nicholas, 43, plunge 170ft down a cliff face in Wales in 1991.

It is not yet clear why Amy - a former pupil of Oxford High School for Girls and a talented artist - took the heroin overdose on August 18. She had just returned from a holiday abroad with friends.

Mrs Bardwell added: "She had just finished her A-levels and she was due to go to college. You hear of young people who are worried about A-level results but she was fine. It is such a waste of someone who was attractive and talented and could make friends easily." More than 300 mourners attended Amy's funeral at St Michael's and wrote messages that were stuck around her coffin. Rock music was played and Amy's artwork was on display, together with a dress she designed.

An inquest opened last month and a post mortem has been carried out. The results are still to be announced.

Donations from Amy's funeral are being given to charities committed to reducing drug abuse, such as the Libra Project in Oxford Road, Cowley.

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