A FATHER is paying tribute to his adventurous son who disappeared while paragliding in northern India seven years ago.

Joel Kitchen, a 25-year-old Brightlingsea chef, took off into the skies from Eir in the northern province of Himachal Pradesh and failed to land at the agreed site and never contacted his friends.

It is believed he was blown off course by a storm and his parents had to pledge £18,000 to the Indian authoritites before they would start looking for him.

However, after three weeks of searching, the hunt was called off as there was little hope of finding him alive and no trace of him has ever been discovered.

Now, seven years on, his father Bill Kitchen, 59, of Dean Street, Brightlingsea, is organising events in his memory.

He said: “I just want to try and turn what has been a terrible tragedy into a celebration of the joy Joel produced in his life.

“It has been seven years since Joel disappeared and that is normally the period when someone might be considered legally dead.

“If you have a funeral or if you ever found any evidence of death, you would normally have a celebration of life, but that never happened for us.

“We wanted to do this to show he didn’t die in vain. There were some very positive aspects of his life and he was loved by so many different people.

“I’m hoping people I haven’t been able to reach will come along.”

An evening of music and readings will be held at Brightlingsea Community Centre on July 17, followed by a picnic and memorial walk on July 18 along Brightlingsea’s old railway track, where a bench is dedicated to Joel and his mother, Angie, who died three years ago.

Joel attended Brightlingsea infants and junior schools and Colne Community School before moving to London after his A-Levels to become a chef.

He developed a taste for adventure which took him around the world, kayaking, cycling, mountain climbing, paragliding, motorbiking, snowboarding and skiing.