A 16-YEAR-OLD girl who fell to her death from a block of flats in Oxford had made attempts on her life before, according to one of her friends.

Natasha Saxton, a former pupil of Peers School, in Littlemore, fell from the top floor of Hockmore Tower, in Banjo Road, Cowley, shortly before midnight on Friday.

Paramedics were called to the scene after reports the teenager had jumped from one of the flats - but Natasha was dead by the time they arrived.

Natasha had lived in the flat with her father David Braich for about two years.

She had left Peers School in the summer and was hoping to go to college.

One of her friends, who lives in Hockmore Tower, said Natasha had been ill for a while and had made attempts on her life before.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: "On Friday, she had a bit to drink with friends in the flat.

"Obviously things were still troubling her and she jumped.

"Her dad ended up hanging off the ledge trying to see her and had to be talked off by police. He's very, very distressed.

"Natasha was quiet, but very funny.

"She had her troubles, but she was a really, really nice girl and her dad should be proud of her.

"We had a laugh and a joke on the afternoon before she died. Then later on that day I heard her fall."

The Kavanagh family live on the top floor of Hockmore Tower, just a few yards from the ninth-floor flat where Natasha lived with her father.

David Kavanagh, 21, had seen someone hanging from a roof-top ledge by the arms and thought it was Natasha - but it later turned out that it was her father trying to find his daughter.

Mr Kavanagh had run upstairs but by the time he got to the flat he shares with his parents, the person was no longer there.

His father, Michael Kavanagh, 71, said: "The police came to interview us about what happened.

"It's terrible. David was very upset by what he saw."

The Kavanaghs' top-floor flat at Hockmore Tower has a narrow ledge outside the front of their home, which also runs alongside the flat where Natasha lived.

A wooden barrier is in place at the edge and the flats overlook Templars Square shopping centre and the roofs of businesses and garages.

A spokesman for Oxford City Council said: "We're devastated to hear this news.

"A senior manager from Oxford City Homes has been to see the family and we will continue to help and support them."

Police are treating Natasha's death as "unexplained", although it is not thought to be suspicious.