IT'S a day Nicki Durbin has been dreading.On Monday she and daughter Alicia will wake up and open their presents but one thing will be missing. Nicki's son Luke won't be there for Christmas.

IT'S a day Nicki Durbin has been dreading.

On Monday she and daughter Alicia will wake up and open their presents but one thing will be missing. Nicki's son Luke won't be there for Christmas.

Luke has now been missing seven months. There has been no sign of him since he was last seen in the early hours of May 12 after a night out in Ipswich with friends.

Despite an unceasing appeal for information, Nicki and 17-year-old Alicia are still no closer to learning where Luke went back in May.

Now they face their first Christmas without him, longing for any clue to where they could find him.

Nicki, 37, said: “It's obviously going to be incredibly difficult. It's always been the three of us together on Christmas morning.

“Christmas is about family. It's just very painful.”

Earlier this month Luke was due to celebrate his 20th birthday, yet for the first time Nicki couldn't celebrate it with him.

Now she faces a double blow with Luke absent for Christmas.

At first she considered going away for Christmas but the thought that Luke could get in touch and she could miss the call meant Nicki, of Coronation Avenue, Hollesley, had to be at home on Monday.

For a while she thought she wouldn't celebrate Christmas at all but she changed her mind for her daughter.

Nicki said: “Luke's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and that was just awful.

“We were just going to postpone Christmas and be here but I have got a 17-year-old daughter who is here.

“I am her mum and so I did put a tree up. I'm so glad I did because Alicia was so pleased.

“But I can't bear the thought of that stocking still being there or the present being there for Luke.”

So throughout Christmas and into the New Year Nicki will continue her search for Luke. She holds on to the hope that someone will see his picture and recognise him or reveal a piece of information they have been holding on to for some time.

She said: “Although there has been a huge response from the general public unfortunately it's never led to that sighting.

“I truly believe someone knows.

“If somebody does know I hope Christmas pricks their conscience.

“The more people who look at Luke's photograph, the more chance there is of someone recognising him.”

And if Luke is out there, reading her plea, Nicki has a simple message: “There's nothing to forgive. He has done nothing wrong.

“If there's something in his mind he feels he has done if he could just phone.”

Anyone with information about where Luke is should call the National Missing Persons Hotline on 0500 700 700 or call Suffolk police on 01473 613500.

WEBLINK:www.findluke.com