FOR years, Ronnie Barker was the bane of his life.

Now, this North Yorkshire candlemaker has set up his very own "fork handles" shrine in memory of the comic legend.

The "infamous" Two Ronnies sketch has plagued the lives of candlemakers across the country for decades.

Chris Jones, of Hutton-le-Hole, near Kirkbymoorside, got so fed up with passers-by "hilariously" reciting it he posted a stark warning in his shop: "Anyone mentioning fork handles will be melted down".

He also bought a rare signed poster of the Two Ronnies, whose other famous sketches included The Worm Has Turned and The Tramps, from an internet website to illustrate his point.

Chris, 56, runs Moor Wax Candles and opens his workshop to the public.

He said: "People would walk past while I was working and shout 'fork handles' at me. The first time it was quite funny; the second time it was OK; but after 20 times it was frankly driving me round the twist.

"In the end I decided to make a sign to put a stop to it all. Happily for me, it had the desired effect, but it also gave people a laugh too.

"A few weeks ago, I spotted a poster of the Two Ronnies doing the 'four candles' sketch for sale on a website and decided to buy it. It cost me £60 and it was apparently one of only 950 ever made. I checked again yesterday and of course they have now all sold out. It's probably worth a fair bit, but I'm going to leave it up. I've put four of my candles on a table in front of it as a kind of shrine."

The memorial has now become a focal point for local residents to share their memories of Ronnie Barker's work.

Chris said: "A lot of people are now at the age where they remember that sketch - and everything else Ronnie Barker did - very well.

"I've seen many older people trying to explain it to their children and grandchildren without success - mainly because they can't do the accent."

Ronnie Barker, died on Monday with his wife Joy Tubb at his side. He was 76.

At the peak of his career Barker, along with Ronnie Corbett, entertained 17 million people every Saturday night with their hit show The Two Ronnies.

The Hardware Shop

(In a hardware shop. Ronnie Corbett is behind the counter, Ronnie Barker enters the shop.)

Barker: Four candles!

Corbett: Four candles?

Barker: Four candles.

(Ronnie Corbett opens a box, and gets out four candles. He places them on the counter.)

Barker: No, four candles!

Corbett (confused): Well there you are, four candles!

Barker: No, fork 'andles! 'Andles for forks!

Updated: 11:04 Saturday, October 08, 2005