THE mother of road accident victim Jamie Sanders told today how an extraordinary message from beyond the grave will bring her special joy this Christmas.

Christine Sanders claims her son Jamie - who suffered fatal injuries in an accident at the notorious A64 blackspot at Bilbrough Top near York - returned in spirit form after his death last year and predicted her niece Kayla Jade's birth last Christmas.

And when the baby celebrates her first birthday on Christmas Day, Christine will view her as the most precious gift possible from her son.

"I truly believe that Jamie sent Kayla Jade to us," said Christine, of Northallerton.

"She is the most precious bundle in the world to us. She is such a joy to be with."

Christine said Jamie appeared at her bedside last year, a couple of months after he died at York Hospital, and chatted to her.

His appearance had come after she had been having a vivid dream, which involved him.

"We were having so much fun and laughing around as if it were old times again," she said.

"Then I woke up suddenly. Somehow I knew Jamie was still with me. Colin, my husband, was fast asleep alongside me when a dip appeared in the bed. I whispered: "Jamie, is that you?" and heard his voice.

"It felt so natural to be talking to him. I knew I was no longer dreaming. It was real."

He told her he was enjoying the "best of both worlds," saying: "I can still see you and do anything I like, so don't be sad, mum."

She said: "I thought 'people will never believe me when I tell them about this, they'll think I've gone crackers.' So I asked Jamie for proof that he was really there. And he said: "There'll be a baby born in the family this Christmas." Minutes later, his presence disappeared.

She checked with her family and no one was planning or expecting a baby, or had any intention of getting pregnant. "I began to feel a bit deflated.

"But a couple of months later, my sister Marie said: "Guess what?" She was pregnant, although the baby was not due until January 8. But I felt certain it would be born at Christmas."

Marie said: "I developed pre-eclampsia in the run-up to last Christmas and my midwife asked me to go into the Friarage Hospital for a check-up on Christmas Day."

Doctors were unhappy with her condition and induced her, but did not expect the baby to arrive until Boxing Day.

But tiny Kayla Jade seemed determined to be born on Christmas Day and arrived at 10pm.

Updated: 10:23 Saturday, December 21, 2002