A heartbroken mum facing her third Christmas without her ten-year-old daughter after she was hit and killed by a drug driver has issued an urgent plea as the party season approaches.

Nicola Waters is urging revellers who might consider getting behind the wheel while under the influence of drink or drugs to think again.

Her daughter Lily Lockwood was mown down by a drug driver in Watling Street, Stone just metres from her Dartford home in July 2021.

Ex-cabbie Gavin Prodger, 53, from Rochester, is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for causing her death while having excess drugs in his system, including cocaine.

Now, as the festive season gets underway, the message for anyone thinking of driving while under the influence is “don’t do it”.

Fight back tears, Lily’s mum Nicola told KentOnline: “You (drink/drug drivers) destroy lives. We are living a life sentence because of what one man did.

“Lily had a bright future ahead of her and he took that way. All her hopes and dreams were taken.

“She was the most loving caring girl and because of him we now have to live with this nightmare that we now call life.

“No parent should ever have to plan their child’s funeral. It is life destroying.”

Nicola, of Radfield Drive, Stone, continues to struggle with her daughter’s death and says it hits even harder at this time of year as Lily “really loved Christmas”.

“She loved everything about it,” she added. “Putting up the Christmas tree, helping wrap the presents. There is a massive hole where her energy was at this time of year.”

Lily was fatally injured in Watling Street, just a short distance from her home, while on her way to the shops with friends to buy sweets.

The Brent Primary School pupil was struck by a yellow Audi S1 near the junction with Meadow Way.

She was taken to Kings College Hospital for treatment and was put on life support but despite the best efforts of doctors she died shortly after on July 12 2021.

A medical cause of death was given as "catastrophic brain injuries" related to a road traffic incident.

Mum-of-four Nicola, who has a son Taylor, 16, daughter Mia, 17 and younger daughter Courtney, seven, said she copes with life by “just getting up and doing what you’ve got to do to make it through”.

“It’s like a nightmare you cannot wake up from,” she said.

And it is particularly hard for the family at Christmas.

“My children can see how I’m struggling,” the 36-year-old added.

The family, including step-dad David Butcher, keep Lily’s memory alive at her favourite time of year by creating a memorial garden at Dartford Fire Station, close to where she died.

“We put up Christmas trees, snowmen, lanterns,” she said.

It’s the spot they regularly visit to remember Lily on her birthday and other events she has missed, such as Easter.

Nicola, who works as a care assistant, said the family talk about her everyday and her youngest daughter has started doing the things she loved.

“She was such a happy girl,” she recalled. “She loved making TikToks. Now her little sister likes doing that too.

“She really misses her. She says she was her best friend. All the children are really struggling,” she said.

There’s not a day goes by that we don’t talk about her

“There’s not a day goes by that we don’t talk about her. We talk about missing her and the things she used to do that made us laugh.”

Lily – nicknamed Lollypop – was finishing Year 5 when she died and Nicola said she missed her Year 6 leavers’ celebrations.

“She was always happy. She was always making you smile. You could not ask for a better daughter.”

In the wake of Lily’s death her family made the difficult decision to donate her organs and helped save two adults and two children.

“She was the kind of girl who would help any one,” Nicola said. “I thought it was her way of helping again.”

Nicola said she received a letter from the mum of the young boy who was given Lily’s heart, which was “heartbreaking”.

Lily will forever be remembered in her home town as Almond Park close to where she lived is to be given a butterfly theme in her honour, while the fire brigade are due to install a memorial bench soon.

At the trial at Maidstone Crown Court in October the judge jailing Prodger heard how despite causing the crash he drove on two further occasions under the influence of cocaine and was convicted on each.

Prodger, of Beaulieu Rise, Rochester, had been driving while using his mobile phone at between 44 and 47 mph in a 30 mph limit zone and tests revealed he was 200 times over the drug-driving limit.

He will now go to prison for 12 years and after serving a minimum of at least eight years he will then serve another two years on licence when he is freed.

Nicola was also furious to learn drug-drivers like Prodger might be able to attend a publicly-funded course like that attended by drink drivers, which offers services to aid recovery and could even lead to a reduction in their insurance premium when they are allowed to drive again.

She said: “It’s like they are being rewarded for something they shouldn’t have done.“