A devoted mum collapsed and died from a suspected food allergy on Christmas Day, only hours after telling her daughters they were going on a dream trip to Disney.

Beverley Taylor and husband Iain had managed to keep the holiday a surprise until the girls, Laura, 14, and Emily, 12, had opened their presents.

But later that day, Mrs Taylor, 37, who had a history of allergies, started feeling unwell after she returned to a post-Christmas lunch party at her mum's house next door to her home in Barclay Close, Cullingworth.

She stopped breathing five minutes away from Airedale Hospital in Steeton, where she was being taken in a car by her frantic husband and mother Sandra Lee.

A distraught Mr Taylor said: "We think Bev had gone home to do a bit of packing for the holidays, but when she came back she asked me for a drink and said she felt hot.

"She went into another room to cool down, but we knew things weren't right and she agreed to let us get her to hospital. In the car Bev was getting into a panic and flinging her arms around. I was trying to keep her calm but it wasn't working, then she just fell back and I knew I'd lost her."

Mr Taylor said he tried to resuscitate his wife as they rang the hospital so medical staff were ready for them.

"They worked on her for about two hours at Airedale before telling us she'd gone. They did everything they could," he said.

An inquest on December 30 into Mrs Taylor's death was opened and adjourned in Bradford to allow further tests to be carried out -- but the family has been warned they might never find out what caused the fatal reaction.

Mrs Lee said: "There's no guarantee the coroner's test will uncover anything. Bev had so many allergies and over the years had developed more and more.

"We are left wondering if it was a new allergy that cost her life."

Paying tribute to her daughter, Mrs Lee said: "She was a loving, giving person who always thought of others first. She wanted everything to be right for her family, who she loved dearly. She would do anything for us.

"Although Beverley knew her condition could be serious she managed it well and never thought about the worst that could happen.

"None of us wanted to think about that, although there have been other times when she's collapsed and we've had to throw her in the car and carry her into hospital."

Mr Taylor said his wife would want them all to face the New Year bravely and look after each other as they begin a life without her.

"We were her everything and she was ours, but she would want us to carry on. She loved Christmas and next time we will try to celebrate it as she would want it, especially for the girls. The trip to Disney is off but we'll go another time when we're ready," he said.

Mrs Taylor's funeral will take place today at the Bethel Baptist Church in Sandy Lane at 1.15pm followed by cremation at Nab Wood at 2.30pm.

A collection will be taken in aid of research into life-threatening allergies.