The funeral cortege for a popular barber who died suddenly will set off from his shop where he was so well-known.

Benoit ‘Benny’ Karikumutima, the Congolese owner of Benny’s Barbers Shop on Bradford Road, collapsed and died in the changing rooms at a Huddersfield gym.

The tragedy happened on July 4 at The Gym Group on Beck Road, Huddersfield and since then flowers have been put outside his shop.

Many people are expected to pay their respects at his funeral on Friday, August 3.

The cortege will leave from his shop at 10.30am for a celebration of Benny’s life to be held at the New Testament Church of God, Great Northern Street at 11am. This will be followed by burial at Hey Lane Cemetery near Castle Hill.

Benoit "Benny" Karikumutima, owner of Benny's Barbers in Fartown, who was found dead in a Huddersfield gym

Following his death from a suspected heart attack, the gym’s general manager, Dylan Noble, said: “Benny was a frequent visitor to the gym, well-liked among the staff and members alike and we all extend our deepest sympathy to Benny’s family and friends.”

When the Examiner originally reported the story, Danny Johnson said his friend Benny had been “well-loved” and that he had a wife and children. He said he came to the UK as an asylum seeker from the Congo about 12 years ago.

And Lisa White posted on Facebook: “My thoughts are with the family at this difficult time with the loss of a true gentleman.”

Many of his family members still live in Africa. Earlier this month his younger brother, Joseph Kika Mazambi, 41, of Cape Town, South Africa, messaged the Examiner to say: “As a young brother of Benny Benoit, I just want to pay tribute to my brother, in the name of Mazambi and his family, I say rest in peace Yosia Benny Benoit K Mazambi.”

There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Benny’s death and a file is now with the coroner’s office in Bradford.