A teenage gamekeeper on Lord Halifax's Garrowby estate has been found dead with his shotgun lying beside him.

Ian Allison, 17, who came from Sherburn, between Malton and Scarborough, left school last year to take up work as a trainee gamekeeper.

His body was found outside his flat on the estate near Stamford Bridge. No note was found.

A Humberside Police spokesman told the Evening Press: "There were no suspicious circumstances. It appears to have been a suicide. There was a shotgun involved."

Ian is survived by his mother, Sue Stonehouse, stepfather Ken and brother Martin, 13, of Church View, Sherburn.

Mrs Stonehouse told the Evening Press the family was still very upset and said: "I really haven't got anything else to say."

A spokesman for the Halifax Estates Management Company said: "We are obviously all very shocked about it.

"The police have confirmed that there are no suspicious circumstances and we await the results of the post-mortem, which I understand was undertaken on Tuesday." The spokesman said it was a mystery why Ian should want to kill himself.

"He seemed to be very happy and got on with everyone on the estate very well and integrated well. He seemed to enjoy his job."We are all devastated. We just can't understand it."

A memorial assembly will be held at Filey School at 3pm on Monday for students who were in Ian's form last year and those who travelled on the same bus to-and-from Sherburn.

Head teacher Kerin Rees and a number of Ian's close friends will attend the funeral on Tuesday, at St Hilda's Church, Sherburn.

Miss Rees said the school was devastated by the loss of a well-liked former pupil, who was quiet, sensitive and an animal lover.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.