NO-ONE will face criminal charges following the death of 14-year-old boy on a school caving trip, police say.

Joseph Lister was part of a group from Tadcaster Grammar School who were learning the basic principles of caving in Upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, on the first day of an annual school trip on November 14 last year.

His lifeless body was recovered from an area known as Manchester Hole following a search by a rescue team and he was taken to hospital with acute hypothermia.

Joseph, from Steeton, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was pronounced dead at Harrogate District Hospital with his parents at his bedside.

It is understood he was trapped in the cave system by rising water levels.

North Yorkshire County Council said the group of 100 13 and 14-year-olds and nine teachers from the school were divided into smaller groups with instructors from the council-run Bewerley Park Outdoor Education Centre, near Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale.

Josephs group of 11 children went into the caves, which are described as a fairly easy and comfortable introduction to caving.

The incident came less than two weeks after ministers published plans to encourage more school trips, which included a guarantee for every pupil to have the chance to attend at least one residential trip during their time at school.

Yesterday a spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: "After due consideration of the file by the Crown Prosecution Service there will be no criminal proceedings arising from the incident."

He said the coroner had been informed of this decision.

Following Joseph's death his head teacher Geoff Mitchell said the school had lost someone very special and described him as a larger than life character with an infectious smile.