Leeds Largest Conference and Banqueting Venue will be a tribute to living legend

Royal Armouries (International) plc is to name its new banqueting hall after a Leeds legend. Bosses from the plc are to name the £5m development, which will provide the largest conference and exhibition hall in Leeds, after Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE. Saviles Hall will open in May with space and facilities for a thousand people. It is part of the Royal Armouries International exhibition space, now being built next to the museum, alongside new hotels and other developments at Clarence Dock.

The Jim'll Fix It hero and icon among all ages is the holder of many honours and titles, including a Knighthood from the Queen and he was made a Knight of St Gregory by the late Pope John Paul II.

Sir Jimmy, 80, said today: "It's wonderful to have a hall named after you. Last week I was inducted in the Radio Academy's Hall of Fame, now there is a hall in Leeds, actually named after me."

He joked that he had recently had the honour of opening a toilet at his favourite restaurant, The Flying Pizza in Roundhay; another time he cut the ribbon on a new oven at a crematorium in Lancashire. "It might be more appropriate for me to be inducted into the 'Infamous' hall of fame," he joked.

Jim Vincent, managing director, said: "It will be the largest exhibition and conference space in Leeds. Demand for a larger venue has also come from major exhibition and conference organisers who already hold their events at the Royal Armouries Museum.

"We've been trying to come up with a name for the new venue for the past six months. I saw Sir Jimmy at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds a couple of weeks ago and at that point it became obvious that we must name the venue Sir Jimmy Saviles Hall."