An obituary Bernard Manning wrote for himself, defending his controversial act, is published following his death.

The comedian, 76, died earlier this week - several months after the Daily Mail challenged him to write the piece.

Manning used it to answer claims he was racist and sexist - but he began within a mother-in-law joke.

"Oh, I know there'll be a few who won't mourn my passing, like mothers-in-law up and down the country. I'll never forget the day I took my own mother-in-law to the Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussauds. Suddenly, one of the attendants whispered to me: 'Please keep her moving. We're trying to do a stock take.'

"I don't think the Commission for Racial Equality will be holding a wake for me, either. Nor will the Lesbian and Gay Rights lot or the feminists."

He continued: "And I was never a racist. That's just an easy, catch-all term of abuse bandied around by the media elite against anyone who does not follow their agenda. It was just meaningless.

"When told by some toffee-nosed southerner that I was prejudiced, I used to say: 'Have you actually seen my act?' They would then admit they hadn't."

In the piece, Manning insisted he was only concerned about finding funny jokes which he said were appreciated by many.