A MEMORIAL bench celebrating the life of Bradford’s 'Jesus Man' has been unveiled in the city centre.

Geoffrey Brindley was well-known for walking the streets of the Bradford district, wearing his distinctive brown robe and sandals, with a satchel around his neck.

He would often smile and wave at people he encountered along the way,

He died, aged 88, on August 24, 2015, at Bradford Royal Infirmary, 11 days after being taken ill at home in Baildon.

Former Keighley MP Ann Cryer unveiled the new bench at the bus stops outside City Hall in Hall Ings yesterday.

She said she had very fond memories of seeing Mr Brindley as he walked between Bradford and Keighley.

She said: “When I saw him and he smiled at me and waved, I just thought he was wonderful. I felt as if I knew him.”

Mrs Cryer said when she was having a bad day, “and you do have bad days as an MP”, a smile and a wave from him would cheer her up.

She said: “It used to make my day when I saw him.”

And she said her grandchildren also had fond memories of seeing Mr Brindley while out and about.

A barrister based in Pakistan had stumped up more than £1,000 to pay for the memorial bench in tribute to Mr Brindley.

Farrukh Qureshi came forward after reading an appeal in the Telegraph & Argus for suggestions for a place to site a bench in Mr Brindley’s memory.

A friend of Mr Brindley’s, preacher James Edmundson, who was also at the unveiling of the bench, said he originally knew Mr Brindley through seeing him on the streets, but later got to know him personally as well.

He said: “Geoffrey was a very humble man. He knew he had a lot of love in Bradford. There was a time in his life when he could have left Bradford and gone elsewhere, but he chose to stay in Bradford.”

He said the bench would be a wonderful place for the people of the Bradford district to be able to visit and remember Mr Brindley.

At the unveiling ceremony, a collection of photos of Mr Brindley at various stages of his life was displayed.

Another memorial bench to Mr Brindley was unveiled in Wrose Road, Wrose, Shipley, last summer.