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Zoe Delaney & Aaron Morris

Paul O'Grady character Lily Savage immortalised in new Manchester mural

A stunning new mural of Paul O'Grady character Lily Savage has been created in Manchester, in tribute to the TV legend just weeks after his death.

Paul passed away 'unexpectedly but peacefully' at the age of 67 at the end of March, shocking the nation and leaving fans of the iconic host devastated.

And people across the country have been paying their respects to Paul in their own ways - with some donating money to his charity in the Battersea Dogs and Cats home, while creatives have pieced up a number of murals in his honour.

Read more: Paul O'Grady's Instagram breaks fans' hearts as sad post appears weeks after his death

The Mirror reports Manchester-based street artist Chris Moore, professionally known as Manchester Murals, created a massive mural of Paul's drag queen persona Lily Savage. The mural can be found in the city's Gay Village and covers the entire side of a pub called The Church.

Speaking on the artwork, Chris said: "Hopefully it’ll be there for years to come. I think it’s a really fitting situé for Lily to be in."

The stunning Savage mural (Manchester Evening News)

After Paul died, Manchester Mural created a mural of the TV star in south Manchester but it was sadly defaced a couple of days later. The black-and-white creation is of a smiling Paul next to a dog along with the words, 'For Paul'.

The artist previously said the work was a way of paying tribute to the 'well-grounded entertainment machine that spanned generations'. However, the mural was soon defaced with green graffiti on Sunday, April 2.

"I was instantly driven to create a fitting mural in his honour, and I felt it was only natural to include a dog in that," the artist said. He spent a few days working on the mural and was 'disappointed' to find out it was sprayed over with graffiti.

Speaking to Manchester Evening News, he said: "It would have been nice for it to last longer. I only finished it on Thursday so it’s not even been three days since it was created. I can kind of understand people’s disappointment in that the mural has only lasted as long as it has, especially given how recent his passing was, but, ultimately and unfortunately, this is part of the nature of the street art and mural scene."

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