AS 16-year-olds begin to prepare for college or work after passing their GCSEs, one Swindon mum knows her daughter will not be joining them.

Chelsea May Smith, from Stratton, hanged herself in her bedroom on February 5 after writing letters to family and friends.

Her unexpected suicide shook the community and Kingsdown School, where the 16-year-old was widely known and incredibly popular.

While other mums celebrate their children’s results, college and job offers, Trudy Young is awaiting the inquest that will determine why her vivacious little girl took her own life.

“The past six months have been a struggle,” she said.

“Her room has been kept the same and I love seeing her friends who come over all the time to be close to her.”

Pink flowers are always present on the garden bench at the bottom of Chelsea’s Stratton garden – the place where her ashes have been laid to rest.

But while Trudy must now concentrate on moving on, she knows she may have to wait for up to two years for her daughter’s inquest.

“In a way, the fact that we know how she died is a comfort – we are in no doubt of that unlike many people who lose their loved ones suddenly and have no idea how it could happen.

“What I want from the inquest is to know why she took her own life and why we weren’t enough to keep her on the earth.”

Chelsea had everything to live for. She had a wealth of friends a loving family and a bright future as a talented dancer.

In her letters to her family and closest friends she revealed some of the reasons why she was leaving them – a revelation the family have chosen to keep private.

Trudy hopes that a police investigation into her daughter’s death may unearth more than her letters let on.

“I have not been able to see any of the letters to her ex-boyfriend,” she said.

“I handed them over to the police without reading them thinking I would one day know what she had written, but I can’t until the inquest and maybe not even then.”