Hospital staff line streets in tribute

Porter Walter Jackson, 64, said: “He never talked about himself, only his projects.

“What he did wasn’t a stunt; he used to raise money all the time.

“This is a sad time but he will always be remembered.

“Most of the people in here knew him.

“He used to walk about and talk to everybody.

“If someone was crying he would go over and talk to him - that is something that money can’t buy.”

Outside the cathedral, as mourners watched the service on large screens, the numbers behind the barriers were five deep in places.

Retired care worker Carol Carr, 62, from Leeds, said: “He was a people person; very friendly and he would do anything for anyone and with no airs and graces.

“I have come down today to see him off, I think he deserves this.

“Most of the people here are in their 50s and 60s because young people won’t remember him.”

It wasn’t quite true that young people didn’t remember him.

One who did was Anna Sharman, 21, a Leeds University Sport Science student from Worcestershire.

She said: “I didn’t know he was from Leeds but I knew what he looked like.”