MEMORIES of the late Pope John Paul II are part of the furniture for one York man.

Len Smith, who lives in Poppleton Road, helped prepare the scaffolding for the Pontiff's historic visit to Knavesmire in 1982, and he managed to keep the bullet-proof screen from behind which the Pope delivered a sermon to more than 170,000 people.

The screen was part of the extra security measures which were taken after the Pope was shot and seriously wounded during an assassination attempt in St Peter's Square, in Rome, on May 13, 1981.

Rather than leave the unusual item collecting dust in his garage, 48-year-old Len had the lectern converted into a one-and-a-half inch thick coffee table.

The unusual artefact has pride of place in Len's home and, as millions mourn the passing of the popular Pontiff, he has no intentions of letting it go.

"I did some of the scaffolding for the Pope's visit," Len said.

"When it came to take everything down, everything was being thrown into skips.

"There was the glass that the Pope read his sermon from, and I managed to get it. It has been with me ever since."

Roman Catholic Len, of Winchester Avenue, said he was proud to have the screen, which he had transformed with oak into a coffee table.

"The kids can't break it," he said. "It is a piece of history.

It was a fantastic day in 1982. The number of people that were there was just amazing. It was an experience that will always remain."

The Pope arrived from Manchester in a Sikorski helicopter, and spent 80 minutes on Knavesmire, talking from a specially-built podium.

People had been assembling for hours, during a visit that was based on the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. In York he celebrated marriage and family life.

From York, the Pope flew to Leeming Bar and later to Scotland and Wales.

Last week, it was estimated that as many as four million people flocked to Rome to witness the Pope's funeral - including Royalty and political leaders from dozens of countries.

The first Polish pope, he had served as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church for nearly 27 years.

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, April 13, 2005