The parents of a little boy who died after being found in a slurry pit on a farm near Broseley today paid tribute to their “bright and adventurous” son, who was “generous to a fault”.

Seven-year-old Xander Martin Shaw was found by family and friends on the afternoon of July 24 but, despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford a short time later.

Today his parents, Darren and Jayne Shaw, spoke for the first time since the tragedy and said their “little monkey” would be terribly missed and his death had left a large hole in their lives. His school pals are also said to be devastated.

“The things that spring to mind when you think of Xander are grubby knees and a cheeky grin. He was just full of life, so bright and so adventurous,” said Mrs Shaw.

“He was just a fabulous child, generous to a fault. He had just discovered a love of tennis and adored science experiments and finding out how things worked. He always used to draw machines he had invented.

“He had just got into cooking too, which he loved, and on Friday morning for the first time he brought us both a cup of tea which he had made for us all by himself.”

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She added Xander loved school and could not wait to start his Key Stage Two work.

He had been as popular with children older than himself as he was with his own year group and Mrs Shaw said the youngsters at Broseley CE School had been left devastated by Xander’s death.

Mr Shaw said his son was so generous that he was always thinking of others before himself and had been very close to his older sister Antonia, who is 10.

“If you got him a chocolate bar and his sister Antonia wasn’t there, he would insist we got one for her too and he would wait until she came home and could see she had hers before he would eat his,” he said.

“He would have just set the world on fire. He could turn his hand to anything if you showed him once, he was extremely clever. He was such an active little boy, just a little monkey.

“He also had an excellent ear for music and had been due to start learning to play the drums when he went back to school in September.”

By Lisa Rowley