THE devastated family and teenage fiance of a North Yorkshire man who was killed in a road accident have paid tribute to a fun-loving and caring son, brother and uncle.

Christopher James George Barlow, 19, from Beech Crescent, Broughton, near Malton, died instantly when his black Volkswagen Golf left the road and hit a stone parapet at Catter Bridge, near Spaunton, as he was driving towards Kirkbymoorside on the A170 last Friday.

"He's left a void in our lives that could never be filled," said his mother, Linda Barlow, 48. "Nobody could fill his shoes at all. It's a terrible, tragic loss that could possibly have been avoided."

Chris moved with his family - mum and dad Linda and Kevin, sister Sarah and brother Anthony - from Denton in Manchester five years ago.

After leaving school Chris worked at Grampian Country Foods, Norton, before getting a job looking after the greyhounds at Rainbow Kennels, Peasey Hill, Malton.

He moved to LCL Castings Ltd, Showfield Lane, Malton, after proposing to his girlfriend Lyndsey Elliott, 16, of Almond Tree Avenue, Malton, on their first anniversary of being together, on New Year's Eve. He wanted to earn more money and build a future for them both.

Chris's death has shattered the happiness of his four nieces Lyndsay, 15, seven-year-old twins Chloe and Chantelle, and Ollie, whose fourth birthday was on the day her uncle died. The girls, who affectionately called their uncle Chrissy, live with his brother, Anthony, and his wife, Sharon, in Beverley Road, Norton.

"He lived for 19 years, and there wasn't a second of those 19 years that he didn't live to the full," said Mrs Barlow. "He never wasted a second - he was always going somewhere or seeing someone."

His sister, Sarah, 23, who lives with her parents, said: "He was one of the funniest people. He had such a dry sense of humour."

A vigil will be held at St Mary's and St Leonard's RC Church, Malton, on Tuesday, at 6pm, with a funeral service the following day, at 11.30am, followed by cremation at Octon.

His family have asked that no mourning clothes be worn at the funeral.

Updated: 10:56 Thursday, June 03, 2004