The family of a 17-year-old from Melksham, who died after apparently falling into a river following a quad bike crash, has paid tribute to a ‘gentle giant’.

The body of Dan Collins, 17, was found in the River Usk in the Brecon Beacons on Monday, eight days after a quad bike crashed into a wall near Crickhowell.

A mountain rescue team using a kayak had been searching for the teenager for days, as well as teams using dogs, divers and the police helicopter.

His mother Emma Collins, 38, said: “He was a gentle giant, you could say. He was a very outgoing person, easily led into pranks. He enjoyed practical jokes and things like that. He was very mischievous, but in a good way, he was good-natured.

“He was sports mad, Man United was his team. Right from the day dot he was football mad. He went to Filton College so he could be a sports coach in school or college.

“I still don’t think it’s real. I think it will be the day of the funeral that it will hit, when we have to say our goodbyes.

“It’s all very up in the air at the moment. We’re not 100 per cent sure of the facts. All we know is that Dan and two friends went to Wales, there was an accident with a quad bike, it went out of control and Dan went through a wall.

“They found a shoe on the riverbank they believed to be his, and it took five to seven days for his body to be found.

“We didn’t know he had gone to Wales until his girlfriend called to tell us she’s reported him missing because he hadn’t come home.”

Dan had grown up in Melksham before moving to Bristol in 2009 to be near his girlfriend, Tara Caise, 16. She reported him missing on October 29, just two days after his 17th birthday.

He had four siblings, Natasha Sherman, 21, Gemma Sherman, 20, Tom Sherman, 13, and Zach Collins, 11, and the family have gathered at Natasha’s home in Chippen-ham to support each other.

After travelling to the scene of the crash. Natasha said: “I can’t begin to explain how I feel. From going down to Wales we knew Dan wasn’t coming home. It’s all so unreal. I can look at photos and not cry because I don’t think it’s real. I expect him to come through the door and say ‘all right’ and give us a lovely smile.”

In the early hours of October 30 Dyfed-Powys Police received reports of two quad bikes travelling in an erratic manner, along with a Citroen car. Two quad bikes had previously been reported stolen.

Officers found one bike near the River Usk having collided with the river boundary wall, and the other was found abandoned nearby. The Citroen collided with a bridge in Crickhowell after a brief chase. Three men have been arrested and are on police bail.

Dyfed-Powys Police said the matter has been referred voluntarily to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The Powys coroner will open an inquest once a post-mortem has been completed.

A Facebook tribute page has been set up entitled “Daniel Collins - gone but never forgotten”. Nina Jefferies, deputy headteacher at Aloeric School, said: “We were all shocked to hear, it’s just tragic. I taught Dan in the infants and I knew him very well. It’s just really sad to hear such a young life has gone.”

Mr Collins’ funeral will be held at West Wiltshire Crematorium, Semington, on Friday, November 18 at 3.15pm. Family flowers only, with donations in his memory to the Brecon Mount