The sister of Finchley street personality Horace White is “thrilled” a memorial bench will be installed in his honour.

Selina Higgins, 66, has cried every day since her brother passed away but hopes the bench will help her come to terms with his death.

Horace, who lived on the Grange Estate in East Finchley, could be found most days chatting to passers-by outside shops in North Finchley. He would wish everyone he met the "best of luck" and would insist on knowing their surname. 

But last September the eccentric 54-year-old passed away after collapsing outside the Whittington Hospital. Thousands of people took to social media sites to leave their tributes and an online petition gathered 6,000 web signatures calling for a memorial to be set up in the area.

As a result Barnet Borough Council has agreed to put a bench in North Finchley in his honour.

Mrs Higgins of Gloucester Road, Edmonton said: “I’m so excited. It means my Horace will never die. He will be a legend – I’m thrilled.”

Despite knowing her brother was a popular man, Mrs Higgins was shocked when more than 10,000 people 'liked' a Facebook page entitled RIP Horace.

She said: “He had this street life which just amazed me. When I took him to the hospital or shopping everyone would say hello to him but I didn’t know the extent of how much he was loved by everyone.

"I could not believe one man had so many people who loved him. But he was such a loveable person.

“I haven’t stopped crying since the day he left but hopefully this bench will help me come to terms with it. I'm sure the bench will help me. It makes me so proud.”

The bench will be installed using cash from the Mayor’s Outer London Fund.