FRIENDS and family rallied around for Julie Underwood on Christmas Day, which was the six-month anniversary of her husband Dean's death.

The 29 year-old, of Eastleigh Road, Devizes, and her sons Scott-Lee, nine, and Thomas, five, were cheered by the kind actions of supporters.

Mr Underwood died on June 25 aged 37, just eight weeks after being diagnosed with oesophagus cancer.

His former colleagues from Deceuninck in Calne have been a constant support to the family.

And employee Pete Wood, who has had a beard for 20 years, had it shaved off to raise money to buy the boys some extra Christmas gifts.

"They bought Scott a bike and the youngest a telly video, " said Mrs Underwood. "Everyone there has been so good to us and I was really touched."

She said it had been a difficult year and she and the boys were still having difficulty coming to terms with Mr Underwood's death.

"It has been quite hard and it's been an up and down year," she said. "This isn't the best time of year for us."

She and her sons spent Christmas with her parents in Devizes.

Mrs Underwood recently returned from a holiday to Disneyland in Florida, which had been planned as a family holiday for more than a year.

"It had been planned for a long time with my sister and brother-in-law and we decided to go anyway," she said.

"I wanted to give the kids something to focus on and they really loved it."

Mr Underwood was taken ill just before Christmas last year with a suspected ulcer.

But on May 1 he was referred to Bath's Royal United Hospital after having problems swallowing, and was diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

A spokesman for Deceuninck said: "It was a huge shock when Dean died and everyone here was gutted."