Rik Mayall fans campaign for Bottom bench where he punched Ade Edmondson in the groin

The comedian died aged 56 from a suspected heart attack last Monday

Comedian Rik Mayall died in June 2014 aged 56 (Corbis)

Rik Mayall fans are petitioning for a memorial bench to mark where Bottom’s opening credits were filmed.

The British comedian died last Monday aged 56 from an “acute cardiac event” following a run. Since then, almost 1,500 have campaigned for the tribute to be placed in West London’s Hammersmith Broadway.

The BBC sitcom’s intro sees Mayall’s character Richie being hit over the head with a newspaper by Ade Edmondson’s Eddie, before he retaliates and punches him in the groin.

Rik Mayall's funniest moments

Jaime Bird, who organised the petition, said that fans and friends “need a place where we can remember (Mayall)”.

“Placing a memorial bench at this location is something we feel he would have loved,” he said.

Mayall was fond of Hammersmith and described the area as his “stomping ground” in 2010. He also spoke about the loss he felt on realising that the Bottom bench had been removed.

“If you were to come to the end of King Street where it meets the big roundabout to get to the Hammersmith Apollo, you’d find that same bench on a traffic island,” he said. “Until one day they took it away and put a pelican crossing in its place.

“That for me is the worst journey I ever made, discovering what had happened to that bench.”

A spoof blue plaque appeared at the site last week reading: “Rik Mayall, 1958 – 2014. Punched his friend in the balls on a bench near this spot.”

Mayall’s World Cup song “Noble England” is currently in the top 10 on the UK Official Singles Chart after a social media campaign saw it brought back from obscurity in the wake of his sudden death.

BBC Two aired a classic episode of Bottom in tribute to Mayall on Sunday night.