A bench has been installed to commemorate the life of a Keighley man who died aged only 34.

Andrew MacDonald, who lived in Fell Lane, died from natural causes on March 26 last year.

The bench in his memory was put in place on the Cavendish Street side of Keighley Town Hall Square last Wednesday with the help of Keighley Town Council.

Andrew’s parents – Robert and Shirley MacDonald – thanked the council for its support. The couple still live in Fell Lane and used to run a carpet and upholstery cleaning business.

Mr MacDonald, 66, said: “Andrew was a very caring sort of person.

“He’d do a lot for other people, and he had many friends. We were overwhelmed by the number of people who came to his funeral.”

Andrew was educated at Oakbank School and had a number of different jobs at Leeds Bradford Airport before working as a meter reader for energy company npower.

Mr MacDonald explained he and his wife had initially considered having a memorial bench next to the Leeds-Liverpool Canal near Silsden.

“We were told we’d need to submit a number of different plans and that they’d have to deliver the bench on a barge, using a crane,” he said.

“Then my wife thought of Town Hall Square in Keighley instead.”

The couple were able to see their wish granted after approaching the town council via the Keighley Civic Centre. They paid for the bench, while the council ordered it from a Scottish-based firm.

Town clerk Miggy Bailey said: “It is something nice for Mr and Mrs MacDonald to remember their son by.

“On the same day as we installed their bench, we also had another bench placed in the square in memory of Allan Rhodes.”

Councillor Rhodes was a former Keighley mayor and long-serving town councillor, who died last October aged 73.