A PRESTON mother is coming to terms with the fact that her precious son will never again come home, bang the door and shout 'Where's my mum?'.

Marlene Norris was at her son Gary's bedside on Sunday (July 21) when he died following a tragic car accident.

The 25-year-old was the apple of her eye. "He was a lovely lad, he made everybody laugh," she said.

"He would come in and bang the door and shout 'Where's my mum?'

"He lived life to the full."

The last time Gary was with his family was at a barbecue on Saturday night where, as usual, he kept everyone entertained.

"I defy anybody to have been with Gary for more than ten minutes and not laugh," said Marlene.

Afterwards Gary drove his sister Julie and her husband home. On his way back he lost control of his car in Longmeaneygate, Leyland.

Police say he crashed while negotiating a left turn in his Citroen Saxo, and hit a stone barn. He died a few hours later in the Royal Preston Hospital, surrounded by his family.

Gary still lived at home with his parents in Hutton, near Preston. "We were very, very close," said Marlene. "He would have given me his last ha'penny."

Marlene, an IT worker at Chorley Borough Council, said: "He didn't have a girlfriend. We always said we would never get rid of him because he wanted someone like his mum!

"He was a real romantic and didn't want a girlfriend just for the sake of it -- he wanted someone to marry. He was a family lad. He wasn't into clubbing and he's probably only been round town two or three times!"

His sister Julie, 27, said: "It's a tragic waste of life. But the good things never last."

Julie and Gary went to the same schools -- Seven Stars Primary School then Wellfield High School, both in Leyland.

The keen Manchester United fan had had a number of jobs since finishing school and most recently had been working with traffic cameras, in motorway surveillance.

According to his family, he could usually be found on days off sitting by his local pond fishing, just a stones throw away from his family home.

"He was a home-bird really," said Gary's father Derek.

Retired Derek loved his son's approach to life. He said: "He was a happy-go-lucky lad -- not a care in the world.

"He was very thoughtful and did everything he could for the elderly people round here."

Gary's funeral is on Friday, July 26, at Preston Crematorium.

Derek said: "We've had cards from everybody. We've only been here a short time but you'd think we'd been here 15 years."