A heartbroken Bradford mother will be hanging a second star on the Telegraph & Argus Christmas Star Appeal tree next month to remember her son who died just weeks ago.

Barbara Buck has suffered a harrowing three years in which her husband, mother and son have all passed away.

And on December 1 she will gather with her family and hundreds of others from across the district to remember loved ones at Christmas with a special ceremony at City Hall.

Last year Mrs Buck hung a star on the tree to mark the sparkle her husband Gerald had brought to her life.

And just one year on the mum-of-three will be joined by her remaining children to again mark Gerald's memory, and at the same time pay tribute to 39-year-old Christopher who was found dead outside Revolution night-club on October 26.

Police are investigating his death.

Three doormen - two from Bradford and one from Wakefield - were arrested after Christopher's death. All three were released on police bail without charge.

Mrs Buck said the stars helped towards not being able to shower her son with gifts this Christmas.

"I can do this for Christopher and I cannot do anything else for him.

"It was so overwhelming last year, I cannot put it into words," she said.

Mrs Buck described her son, a former Tong School pupil, as a kind and generous man who had many friends.

She said: "People called him the gentle giant because he was six-feet tall.

"They are coming forward saying they went to school with him and I have had so many cards of condolence. It's unbelievable."

Christopher, her middle child, had just begun to recover from a long illness when he died.

"He had been ill for a number of years and he was just coming through it.

"It was the first time he had been to town. He used to come out with us," she said.

Christopher, who lived with her in West Bowling, had helped her cope with her husband's death.

"He was there for me all the time. He lived at home and he was there through the night," she said.

Christopher's younger sister, Nicola Buck, 31, will also attend the ceremony at City Hall where she will support her mother and also hang a star on the tree in memory of her grandmother, Hilda Lawn - Barbara's mother - who died this year aged 87.

Nicola said: "We are doing it for the children because they were really close to her.

"It's a good way of helping them understand it," she said.

Christopher's older brother, Stephen, will also attend the event to support his mother and remember his brother, father and grandmother.

Stephen's partner, Jenny Lawn, said the service would help towards healing the family's wounds.

"Last year it was a comforting feeling that Barbara got from doing this.

"She felt happy she had done that and after what's happened this year it has just made it all the more important.

"If we can get all the family there it will show solidarity and that we are all supporting her," she said.

The Christmas Star appeal is a good way of remembering loved ones and thanking sparkling local heroes.

l Every star on the tree pays tribute to a special person and raises £5 for the Lord Mayor's appeal.

All the money raised will go towards the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the Burns Research Unit at the University of Bradford and Bradford Royal Infirmary.

If you want to honour a loved one, fill in the coupon alongside and send it with a £5 donation, made payable to the Lord Mayor's Appeal, to: Anne Dransfield, Editor's Secretary, Telegraph & Argus, Hall Ings, Bradford, BD1 1JR.

Closing date for nominations is November 26, 2005.

All contributors will be invited to the Banqueting Suite at City Hall on December 1 for a glass of wine and a mince pie to see your Christmas Star on the City Hall Christmas Tree.