An A level student hanged himself after throwing a party at his parents' home which left the property damaged, an inquest heard.

Luke Taylor, 16, had been allowed to host a group of 20 friends to mark his 17th birthday but his mother returned from a trip to the cinema to find the property in a mess.

The teenager offered to pay for damage to a ceiling and helped clear up the rest of the property. But 24 hours later, he was found dead outside his bedroom when his grandmother arrived at the house to drop off a birthday badge.

Police spoke to friends who attended the youngster's party on May 5 this year and examined his mobile phone but found no issues relating as to why he would take his own life. At an inquest, a coroner said she could not be sure he intended to kill himself.

Mr Taylor - a Year 12 pupil studying history, business and economics at Cheadle sixth form college in Stockport, Greater Manchester - was described as a "polite, quiet young man who was popular with his peers and never seen without a smile on his face."

His mother Caroline, a hospital worker at The Christie, told the Stockport hearing: "Luke's death has been a terrible shock to me, his dad and the rest of the family. We didn't think he was depressed about anything, we thought he had a good stable life, he had things to look forward to. We were worried something happened at the party, but there is nothing we have heard from anyone to suggest he had been.