A tattooist inked a likeness of Nelson Mandela on a customer for free as his own way of paying tribute to ‘a great man’.

Chris Moss made the open offer on his shop’s Facebook page; where it was taken up by 43-year-old carpet fitter Gareth Smith.

It took Mr Moss three hours to finish the tattoo on Mr Smith’s thigh at his K2 Body Art Shop in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

He said he was ‘compelled’ to make the offer after watching tributes to the former South African president, who died last week aged 95.

When I decided to do it, I said a prayer and I searched on the computer for “iconic images of Nelson Mandela”.

‘I looked through three pages of images and then this one knocked me out.’

Mr Smith added: ‘A great man died and this is a great tribute. I think it is an amazing tattoo.

‘Everyone I know has commented on it and he has caught such a good likeness.’

Source:  http://metro.co.uk/2013/12/10/tattoo-artist-inks-nelson-mandela-likeness-for-free-as-tribute-to-a-great-man-4225232/