A flood of tributes were today paid to a “one in a million” Ipswich teacher whose body was found near a railway line.

IPSWICH: A flood of tributes were today paid to a “one in a million” Ipswich teacher whose body was found near a railway line.

Shocked pupils at Westbourne Sports College described popular Nathan Hall as “simply awesome”.

The 32-year-old's body was discovered on the tracks at Halifax junction, near Bourne Park, early on Sunday morning.

Mr Hall, who lived in Christchurch Street, had been an English teacher at Westbourne since 2007 after moving to the UK from the Northern Territory region of Canada.

Since news of the tragedy broke, special assemblies have been held and students have been offered professional support.

Meanwhile, a flurry of messages have been left on The Evening Star's website and special internet pages dedicated to Mr Hall.

One read: “I'm going to smile like nothing's wrong, talk like everything is perfect, act like it's all a dream and pretend it's not hurting me.”

Anthony Brame, a pupil at the school, penned his tribute to Mr Hall in a letter, remembering how he was “always smiling”.

He wrote: “I will always remember his hair and the day he had it cut - I asked him if he'd had a fight with a lawn mower. He laughed and so did I.

“He never had a sad moment and was always smiling.”

A page set up on social networking website Facebook has already attracted 230 members.

One post read: “You will be kept in everybody's hearts.

“We will never forget him.”

Westbourne headteacher Chris Edwards said: “Mr Hall's death has greatly saddened the the school community and and in particular those who worked closely with him.”

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said the body was yet to be formally identified and that the death still remained unexplained.

The spokesman confirmed enquiries were ongoing.

Share your memories of Nathan Hall - write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

The Evening Star would like to apologise for printing the wrong photograph in yesterday's coverage of the tragedy.

The image which was published on the front page was not that of Nathan Hall.

We are sorry for any upset or confusion the error may have caused.

Sophia Yates:

“Mr Hall was my English teacher and when I found out I didn't think it could be true. He was a very good teacher, and I'm very upset by it. English will never be the same again.”

Cherice Alexander:

“When I found out he was dead I thought it wasn't true. Why him? He was so young.”

Craig Robotham:

“He was a real nice bloke and very good with the kids. Very sad he's gone.”