A MUCH-LOVED former nurse at Dudley's Bushey Fields Hospital has been commemorated with the unveiling of a memorial bench.

Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust unveiled the bench in remembrance of Henry Christian Knight-Willis as part of a memorial service given by chaplain Rev Stephen Bentley, which was hosted in the chapel at Russells Hall Hospital.

During the service, family and friends of Henry, who died suddenly in October 2017, heard a host of tributes including from the trust’s director of finance Rob Pickup who said the amount of people who turned out was "testimony to the people’s lives he touched".

Henry began working for the trust as a qualified staff nurse on Clent Ward in 2006 and he became a popular and respected colleague among staff at the hospital.

One of his colleagues, Anne-Marie Shaw, described Henry was a "gentle giant with a smile to match his stature" and she said: "He was an intelligent and caring man, respected by his colleagues and patients alike.

“He had a love of art which he shared with all on the ward and he always supported his colleagues when times got tough.

Henry’s daughter, Shari Lawrence-Willis also delivered a tribute to her dad at the memorial event.

She thanked the trust and staff and said it was wonderful to see how how truly cherished Henry was by the people he spent so much time with - before reading a poem she had written which moved many of the congregation to tears.

Henry’s bench sits on the grass between Clent Ward and Wrekin Ward and looks out over the town that he was so fond of.