Musical bench for Dury

Ian Dury and the Blockheads performing in 1980

A park bench which plays songs by late pop star Ian Dury has been switched on as a memorial to the Blockheads singer.

The solar-powered seat was unveiled in Richmond Park, London, one of the performer's favourite places.

The bench lets visitors plug in a set of headphones and hear eight of his songs, as well as an interview.

The bench is solar-powered

Gravel-voiced Dury, who found fame in his 30s to score hits such as Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and What A Waste, lost a long battle with cancer at the age of 57 in March 2000.

Mourners at his funeral included Robbie Williams, Mo Mowlam and Madness.

Williams recently lined up with Dury's backing band The Blockheads to appear on an album formed around the late singer's final recordings.

The bench, which sits in Poet's Corner, in the park's Pembroke Lodge, was created by Yugoslav product designer Mil Strichevic.

Last July, 12 other musical benches were created for Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.

At the time Mr Strichevic told BBC News Online: "I have always been a fan of park benches and I remember when everybody used to use personal stereos.

Dury suffered from polio as a child

"When you see dedications on benches you wonder why people liked the places they used to sit at."

As well as being a singer, Dury was a songwriter, bandleader, actor and artist.

He was also known for his tireless charity work campaigning for Unicef to eradicate polio, which he suffered from as a child.

His single Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick sold one million copies in January 1979, but in the mid-1980s Dury's luck changed and he switched his attention to acting and painting.

In 1996, he was diagnosed as having cancer of the colon. After secondary tumours appeared on his liver he was told that the condition was terminal.