POPULAR Hampshire broadcaster Bruce Parker has spoken for the first time about the loss of his “adored” son.

Charlie Parker, a BBC cameraman, was found dead at a Winchester flat after failing to respond to attempts to wake him.

His father, a former BBC South Today presenter, has paid tribute to the 34-year-old who, just days earlier, had been filming for the corporation at the G20 summit in London.

“He was lovely, we adored him,” said Bruce, 67. “He always had an impish smile and he lived life to the full.

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“For me he was not just a son but a very good friend and I was very proud that after 40 years as a BBC man, he was working with the corporation and doing so well.

“I heard from people who were supervising his work with the G20 summit a fortnight ago they were delighted with what had been – what with all the security – some of his hardest work.”

One of Bruce’s most cherished moments came during his retirement from television screens in 2003, when his son Charlie was one of those filming his final broadcast.

“One of the cameras turned on him filming me – I have that recording,” he added. “I think that’s the proudest picture I have of him.”

The pair had worked together on a couple of other assignments, most notably a European Union summit in Nice in 2003.

Bruce said: “I think he was very proud of that, if not a little scared. He did not want to get anything wrong with Dad about!”

Police investigating Charlie’s death are awaiting results of toxicological tests on his body after a post-mortem proved inconclusive.

It is still unclear why Charlie, who lived Orchard Place, Southampton, was in Winchester on April 4.

But he did grow up in the city, having attended Harestock Primary School, The Pilgrims’ School and Peter Symonds College.

John Harding, the father of Charlie’s best friend, Joel, said: “Charlie was very much the epicentre of a remarkable group of attractive and clever young men and women who peopled Greens and Jewry Street in Winchester.

“They walked a little on the wild side, much to the angst of their collective parents.”

Charlie, who has two older siblings – James, 40, and Sarah, 39 – was not married.

He had two nephews, Milo and Felix, both five, and a niece, Daisy, three, through his Winchester-based sister, Sarah, who is married to architect Huw Thomas.

Bruce, who now lives in north Hampshire with his wife Suzanne, split with Charlie’s mum, Anne, in 1984.

The funeral, which is open to the public, will take place at Winchester Cathedral on Friday at 2.30pm.