The parents of an experienced climber who fell to his death have been comforted by finding out he did nothing wrong by not wearing a helmet or using ropes.

John Wooding, 29, known as Jack, fell when climbing in the Cairngorms, Scotland, on January 13 and died the next day from his injuries.

His mother Margaret Wooding, from Ashtead, said the mountain rescue team, police and various climbers have all said ropes and helmets were not needed on the route.

Mrs Wooding said: "That was helpful for us to know it wasn’t through any mistake of Jack’s. It was just a fluke accident, bad luck."

Mrs Wooding said a rope would have stopped his fall but he wouldn’t have worn one there.

She said: "On that easy slope no one would have worn a rope. You wouldn’t wear a rope to climb the stairs."

She said a helmet would not have saved him, adding: "If you fall 40 metres through the air and hit a rock headfirst a helmet will not help you."

With Mr Wooding's funeral being held on Thursday in Ashtead, the family has chosen the mountain rescue team that evacuated him as one of two organisations for donations in his memory.

His twin brother, George Wooding said he was going to miss his twin brother desperately.

He said: "Him and me had a sense of humour, a way of just laughing about the world and laughing about people we knew.

"We had a bond. I found him to be so funny. We had a sense of humour that has been forged with each other so of course it was going to be unique between us two."

He said his brother loved alternative music and music by Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Van Morrison and US band the Sonics.

He said: "He had this weird combination. "He loved extreme sports, he was a solicitor, he was a philosopher and interested in human rights and there was also this side to him about music.

"A lot of his friends from Therfield and from around Surrey were united by their love for this kind of music as well as other things."

Mr Wooding was a lawyer at the Department of Transport and his desk there is covered in flowers and messages.

The funeral is at St George’s, Barnett Wood Lane, Ashtead, at 1pm on Thursday, January 24.

The family are asking for any donations in memory of Jack to go to Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team and Human Rights Watch.

To make a donation visit www.cmrt.org.uk or email londonoutreach@hrw.org.