T was meant to be an opportunity to provide two girls with happy memories of their dying mother, celebrating what could be her last Christmas.

But the debacle over the now-closed Lapland New Forest has dashed the hopes one Hampshire family had of sharing an extra-special Christmas together.

Christine Wilde’s devastation at finding that her family’s dream day out had been ruined was followed shortly by the bitter blow that husband Ken is facing uncertainty over his job, meaning that they can’t afford to book anything else.

Christine, 41, of Castle Lane, Chandler’s Ford, who has terminal cancer, is now desperate to find something special to replace the ill-fated trip for youngsters Lauren, nine, and six-year-old Lily.

“It’s obviously a magical time of year when you’ve got young children and for me it’s extra special because I’ve made it to another Christmas, and I can’t guarantee that next Christmas I’m going to be here,” she said.

“We can’t afford to go to the real Lapland but after everything they said on the website the New Forest one just looked magical so we thought this was the next best thing.

“I thought this was the perfect year to do something like this because they’re both still believing in Christmas.

“Because of the situation I’m in, we’ve not been able to go on holiday for a couple of years so I just thought this would be a magical day for them, but it’s all been taken away.”

Christine and events manager Ken had arranged to take their girls out of school for the day next Wednesday for the special treat.

Now they are left with no idea how they can find a replacement that will create the happy memories they had hoped Lapland New Forest would.

“It looked fantastic so we spent £100 on tickets, but thankfully had kept it a surprise from the children,” said Christine.

“When it all came out about the place I was absolutely gutted.”

Christine was first diagnosed with breast cancer when eldest daughter Lauren was just four months old, but thought that she had successfully beaten it until she started getting back pain while pregnant with Lily.

Doctors told her that the disease had returned, and spread to her bones.

“I’ll never forget the day – January 4, 2006 – when they gave me months to live,” she said.

“Obviously I’ve responded to the treatment really well, but that’s not going to continue forever.

“Both our girls know everything that’s going on .

“They see me as a normal mother, but they know that one day it’ll change.”