Tributes to ambulance death victim

Natalie Dibden was a 'model student'

An inquest has opened into the death of a teenager who fell out of an ambulance on the M5.

Natalie Dibden, 16, from Charfield near Wotton-under-Edge in South Gloucestershire, died from her injuries after falling from the ambulance.

She was picked up in Dursley in the early hours of Sunday, after apparently collapsing in the street.

Natalie fell from the moving vehicle on the northbound carriageway near junction 12 at Gloucester.

She suffered serious injuries and later died in hospital.

She was always happy with a smile that could melt anyone, young or old Natalie's parents

A statement from Gloucestershire Ambulance Service Trust said: "Details of the incident are being investigated by the police and Gloucestershire Ambulance Service."

Parents Steve and Sarah Dibden said: "Natalie was a daughter that we were all proud and honoured to have known.

"She was always happy with a smile that could melt anyone, young or old.

"Natalie's manner and demeanour endeared her to everyone she ever met. She was as happy playing with the younger generations as she was engaging in conversation with the older generations."

'Model student'

Adrian Verwoert, headteacher at The Castle School, in Thornbury, paid tribute to Natalie.

"She was a model student and a pleasure to teach. She was a quiet, unassuming, charming girl who did the best she could."

Natalie, who was studying vocational courses, had been due to sit an English GCSE retake exam on Monday morning.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Ambulance Service NHS Trust confirmed a paramedic and a technician had been travelling in the Renault ambulance when the incident took place.

No other vehicles were involved in the incident and police are appealing for witnesses.