A DEVASTATED dad whose son was found hanging from a basketball post in Nelson last year has put on an exhibition of his son's artwork as a tribute.

Ian Forrester, who lives with his wife Violet in Primet Heights, Colne, said his son Andrew, 30, who died last March, had always loved drawing and painting.

He had been encouraged by other people who knew about his son's talents as an artist to put some of his work on display to the public.

Andrew, a former Walton High School pupil, was found dead in Walverden Park, Brunswick Street, in the early hours of the morning Thursday, March 6, 2003.

He had been playing football with a friend and messing about with a rope attached to the basketball post during the evening. An inquest earlier this year concluded his death was the result of an accident.

Ian said his son, who had gone to art college but had dropped out and later trained as an engineer, had returned to his old hobby of art just before he died and some of his more recent pictures are included in the exhibition, which will be on display at Barnoldswick Library until the end of the month.

He said: "Most of the pictures are things he did for his GCSE in art and for his college course, but there are some more recent ones in there as well.

"He did a lot of pictures for other people and some have been loaned to me for the exhibition.

"He could draw better than most adults by the time he was three. He always loved art and I feel sorry that I didn't push him to make more of his talent.

"I sit back now and look at these pictures and can see what a great talent he had."

One of the pictures on display was published in a book of Yorkshire Walks in 1996. There are also illustrations Andrew did for a book about monsters that the writer never finished.