FAMILY and friends have paid tribute to a 26-year-old man found dead in a Basingstoke park.

Chris Manning’s body was found in War Memorial Park just before 7pm on Monday, June 6. The police have said there were no suspicious circumstances and the coroner has been informed.

The day after the tragic discovery, Chris’s family and friends gathered in the park to release Chinese lanterns into the sky in memory of the popular young man.

As news of his death has spread, hundreds of people have left messages of shock and sadness on Chris’s Facebook page.

His mother was among the park mourners, and this week, she spoke to The Gazette about the loss of her eldest child.

Nancy Aisthorpe said her son had temporarily moved back home with her in Brookvale, and had gone out with friends for the weekend. She last saw him on Friday, June 3.

She said: “He seemed all right. I don’t want to know what happened at the moment. I can’t change it.”

Chris, a former Bishop Challoner School pupil, worked at Superdry, in Festival Place, and had worked at many pubs in the town over the years. He has a brother, Conor, who turned 18 four days after he died, and sister, Erin, 15.

They had a different father from Chris, who was never in touch with his biological father, but his mother said he saw Brian Manning, his stepdad, as a father.

Nancy, a learning support worker, said the whole family was involved with Purple Room Productions – a drama company based at Queen Mary’s College. Chris performed in many of their shows, and had just started to write his own music.

She added: “He performed at The White Hart pub a couple of weeks ago and had started to learn the guitar. He was very creative with words and articulate. He was always a really happy, bright person.”

A funeral service is being held for Chris at St Michael’s Church in the town centre on June 21. His mother said her son’s body would be dressed in a tiger outfit she gave him for Christmas.

She added: “He liked dressing up. He never bought costumes – he always made them.”

Stuart Dimond, a family friend from Oakridge, is writing a song for Chris, which he hopes to perform at one of the charity gigs he organises in Basingstoke.

He said: “He was like an older brother to me. I felt sick when I found out about his death. But the short life that he lived, he lived well.”

An inquest has been opened and adjourned into Chris’s death. A full hearing will take place at a later date.