A man who drove his car off cliffs at a Sussex beauty spot may have become disillusioned with Army life.

Oliver Ashby-Carter, 21, of High Street, Uckfield, had been excited about life in the Forces.

But his former stepfather Len Ashby, a member of Uckfield Town Council, says he always had reservations about the young man's career choice as a tank driver and fears he may have been disappointed with military life.

He said: "I hadn't really seen him properly since his mother and I split up about five years ago.

"The last time I spoke to him he was full of the joys of spring about going to join the Army. But I wasn't convinced it was a good idea, he was too cuddly a person. He was just a very nice young man.

"You get a lot of young men who get to be tearaways but he was quite cuddly and studious. It's a great, great shame.

"The last time I saw him I said he shouldn't forget if he needed anything to come and knock on my door, but he never did."

Oliver, known as Ollie, studied at Uckfield Community Technology College, close to where he had lived with his mother and stepfather.

He left in 1998 but Geoff Evans, Press officer for the college, said he had been a successful student and gained a number of high graded GCSEs.

Mr Evans said: "Oliver left the college when the family moved to the Blackburn area and we lost touch at that point. It is always sad to hear the death of a young person and Oliver seemed to have a bright future ahead of him."

Ollie's mother is believed to live in Spain and his father in Lancashire. He has a brother, Toby.

His body was recovered by coastguards last Wednesday after he apparently drove a Nissan Primera off cliffs at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, on the Monday.

Tides delayed emergency teams bringing up his body.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious.