Families and friends remembering loved ones in the run-up to Christmas are being invited to hang messages of thought on a remembrance tree.

The Christmas tree is designed to offer solace to those mourning family and friends over the festive season.

The tree, at the RJ Tyrrell funeral home in Manorsfield Road, Bicester, was dedicated at a service by Father Paul Martin, from Bicester's Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Diane Ives, of Bicester, is among those to have found comfort using the tree - hanging two messages in memory of her adoptive parents, John and Edith Elsey Savins.

Mrs Ives, who was adopted when she was six weeks old, said her father had died when she was 26 and her mother in January this year, aged 86.

The 54-year-old, of Merton Walk, Glory Farm, said: "I think the tree is a very good idea. I found it very moving and I shed a few tears.

"I left messages saying how much I missed my parents, how they would always be in my heart and that I loved them very much."

The RJ Tyrrell funeral home, part of the Midcounties Co-operative Funeral Service, will display the tree until Twelfth Night, January 6.

A service for those mentioned on the tree will also take place at L Hartness Funeral Directors in Victoria Road, Bicester, at 4pm on Wednesday.

Clive Dudley, district manager at the Midcounties Co-operative Funeral Service, said: "This special seasonal event gives people a chance to mark the loss of a loved one by adding a dedicated card to our Christmas tree.

"This is very popular and open to everyone."