THE family of a teenage boy who died of a heart attack will be allowed to place the headstone of their choice on their loved one's grave, the Evening Press can reveal today.

Keith and Debbie Bucknell say they have "sobbed and sobbed" in the nine days since Strensall Parish Council refused a design for their son Jamie's gravestone.

As previously reported in the Evening Press, it was the second time the council had turned a design down.

But after meeting Mr and Mrs Bucknell, senior council members gave the green light to the couple's preferred design.

It includes an etching of 14-year-old Jamie's face, a pair of football boots and a heart with the name of the teenager's girlfriend, Helen, in it.

Two minor changes have been made, in that an arrow has been removed from the heart, which will now be on the base of the stone.

Keith said: "This is such a relief for us. Debbie, myself and our daughter, Jodie, would like to thank the Evening Press, the people of York and the people of Strensall for their support through all this.

"We would also like to thank the parish council. We are pleased they agreed to meet with us and that we have now come to an amicable decision."

The family hopes Jamie's stone will be in position in "two to three weeks", Mr Bucknell said.

"The council said this has been a learning curve for them. We are just keen now to draw a line under the whole thing and get on with our lives.

"We never wanted any bad feeling and things have been resolved in a pleasant way, so we are glad about that," he said.

The council chairman, Phillip Thorpe, said he and his colleagues had met at a special council meeting on Tuesday, where they looked again at the design of Jamie's headstone.

He said: "The parish council has subsequently agreed to all of the family's requests except for some minor changes.

"A meeting has since been held with Mr and Mrs Bucknell who are now satisfied with the council's decision and are going ahead with the completion of the headstone to the agreed design."

Mr Thorpe said: "We very much regret any distress this matter has caused and are pleased that a decision has now been reached."

Jamie died last November. In the aftermath of his death his parents set up the Jamie's Have a Heart Appeal in his memory.

It easily raised enough money to pay for 12 new portable heart monitors to be used in York District Hospital.

The remaining £6,000 was split between Strensall Medical Practice and the charity CRY, or Cardiac Risk in the Young.

Updated: 11:18 Thursday, April 25, 2002