Protesting Bramley shoppers stand up for right to sit down

Protesters campaigning to get more than 20 benches reinstated at a West Yorkshire shopping centre have pledged "we are not going away".

Members of A Place to Sit say 22 benches have been removed from Bramley Shopping Centre by the site's owners.

Every Saturday for months, the group's members have protested by taking their own seats to the centre while calling for the benches to be reinstated.

Fran Graham said: "We are standing up for people who need a place to sit."

Ms Graham added: "It sounds daft, but benches help equality and wellbeing. It seems like a tiny thing, but it is massive.

"Some people have stopped shopping independently or have to use a car."

Ms Graham said sitting on a bench really helped to "connect people by chatting" and the interaction could "make their day".

Gatherings, often of more than 25 people, have attended the sit-ins, including young, old and some with disabilities, said the group.

Ms Graham said: "I don't need these benches, but I am supporting people who do."

The group has tried to encourage representatives from the company which owns the centre to come and have a chat with them over a cup of tea.

"The site manager was fab and came down, but he doesn't make the decisions," Ms Graham said.

The group said the owners had put eight benches back in different locations, but several were unusable and they had not been installed throughout the centre as they had been previously.

The owners of the shopping centre have been contacted for comment.

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