Jenny Mason was at the hairdressers when police came to her home with the news that her "number one son" Lee had been killed in an accident at work.

Lee's stepdad Darren was at the family home in Knowle West, tiling the bathroom, and it was he who received the news that turned an ordinary day into the worst of their lives.

Hours earlier, Lee had eaten a bacon roll for breakfast, got on his moped and rode the 10-minute journey to work at a farm in Dundry, run by R E Hill & Son.

Mrs Mason, 41, said: "About 11.15am, two police officers went to our house. I was at the hairdressers and Darren was tiling the bathroom. They told him what happened to Lee and he went to pieces.

"He said he had to find me and I met him by our house.

"He told me 'I've got something to tell you, there's been an accident' and I said 'let's get up there'.

"He went 'no Jen, he's dead'. When I heard those words I thought it wasn't Lee, the person must have had something of Lee's on because Lee couldn't die."

Until Mrs Mason saw her son at Southmead Hospital mortuary, she still didn't believe he had died

She said: "I didn't tell anybody because it might not be him. When I went in, I freaked out – it was reality.

"He looked lovely, it looked like he was asleep and he had a smile on his face.

"He was still in his work clothes and you could see he didn't suffer because it was so quick."

Mrs Mason, who lives in Lisburn Road with her husband Darren and Lee's younger brothers Cory, 15, Kai, 14, and 11-year-old Joey, said Lee always wanted to work and had never been tempted to sell drugs or go into petty crime like many of his peers.

Lee loved his job and just two days before his death he had been told that, after coming through a rough patch, he could keep it.

She said his ambition was to get his HGV1 driving licence and he was a quiet young man who had a good many friends and was caring about his three younger brothers, to whom he gave pocket money.

She said: "He was my number one son, he always will be and my heart is a quarter less than before.

"Such is the bond between a Mum and son – no-one will ever experience the love between us in those 17 years and 345 days.

"I knew that he knew when either of us was sad, tired or needed a cuddle.

"Lee was polite, sensible, had respect for authority and he had commitment, drive and ambition with a view to the future; he was a wonderful human being who thought of others before himself."

Lee's natural father, Michael Fennell, 42, an HGV driver from Daventry Road in Knowle, described Lee as a "good kiddie" whose goal was to be a lorry driver like himself.

Though Michael split with Lee's mum when Lee was aged 14 months, Michael kept in regular contact with his son and took him on holidays which included a trip to America and a mammoth 15-hour drive to Orlando in Florida.

He said: "My life without him will never be the same. He was my son, he was my soulmate and my friend.

"He enjoyed everything I enjoyed and I couldn't have asked for a better son."

Mr Fennell added that Lee was aware he had to work hard to get on in life and do the things he wanted to do.

He said: "He would have got married and had children and grandchildren and now that will never happen."

Lee's stepfather Darren said he couldn't have been any prouder of Lee, he called him his son and he always would.

He said: "Lee got away with everything in his mother's eyes, even leaving the bath and sink and white towels dirty, muddy and covered in diesel. She couldn't see any wrong in him.

"Lee would never hate anybody, he was so forgiving, which was a gift not many of us are blessed with.

"He had a grin just like his Grampy Graham, they were two peas in a pod. They were inseparable."

Lee attended Ashton Gate Primary School and after that, Ashton Park Secondary School.

Mrs Mason said: "He was a bit mischievous; you'd think he was an angel and then we'd get a letter from school saying he'd been mucking about and he had no concentration. I would hide the letter from his stepdad.

"His tutor, Mr Moon, said to me 'I think he should be an astronaut, because he's always in another world'."

As a lad, Lee liked motorbikes and cars, and was working on an old Ford Fiesta kept on his Nan's drive.

He enjoyed Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, getting badges and going to camp, before leaving school at 16 with four GCSEs at F grade in design technology, English, science and religious studies.

Mrs Mason said: "We were very proud. He was never going to be a rocket scientist – he was more hands on.

"When he was still at school, he worked in a garage in Totterdown on Thursdays and he loved it."

Lee's first full-time job was helping at Bridgwater Road garage on the A38 stacking shelves and ordering stock.

It was through a family friend there that he obtained an interview for a job at R E Hill & Son and, aged 16, Lee went to work for them.

He and his family were proud when he was offered the job of trainee groundworker with the business, and delighted when Lee successfully came through a trial to retain his place after farm manager Michael Hill said he needed to improve.

Mrs Mason said: "He loved the job, he was always happy. He loved the people but he was shy."

Michael Hill talked to Darren about Lee's standard of work and they agreed the youngster would go on a trial to prove himself.

Mrs Mason said: "We sat Lee down and we said 'if you can't do the job, don't do it, you've got to give it 100 per cent'. We used to make him come in early at night and if his moped wasn't working, I used to take him in at 6.45am."

On April 2 2007, Lee came home and told his family he was being kept on and everyone was very pleased.

Mrs Mason said: "He said they were happy with him and we could see he was making a bit more effort. He loved machinery and anything which had an engine."

Lee had been preparing for his driving test, with a date set for April 27 after passing the theory exam.

But he never had the chance to sit the test.

Just two days after telling his family he was being kept on at the farm, Lee became snagged in an unguarded soil-sifting machine. He was pulled against the frame and his neck was crushed, killing him.

Lee's brothers all said how they would dearly miss him.

Cory, 15, said: "I miss when Lee used to come in late and talk to me. I miss how he always smiled at me."

Kai, 14, said: "I miss the way he always messed around with us and the way he was always laughing."

Youngest brother Joey, 11, said: "He used to play with me and I really miss him."

Lee's nan Sonia Grant, 65, from Wedmore Vale in Bedminster, said: "I was proud of my first grandson, he was polite and never had a nasty bone in his body."

Lee's aunt Joy Pollard, 47, of Newquay Road in Knowle West, recalled how Lee was always embarrassed when he received a gift.

Lee's cousin Lauren Stone, 15, of Sidmouth Street, Bedminster, said: "I miss my big cousin Lee as when I went up to my Auntie Jen's house, I always had a laugh with him and I was always telling him I was moving in just to annoy him.

"He used to laugh and say 'you're not living here because I couldn't put up with you'."

Another cousin, Fern Stone, 13, said: "I miss seeing Lee and his cheeky grin. I will never forget him and I will keep thinking of him.

Lee's school friend Kirsty Smith, 18, of North Street in Bedminster, said you couldn't ask for a better person than Lee as he would do anything for anybody.

She said: "He was just a pleasure to be around and was always full of smiles. He had a heart of gold."