A cleric who famously sheltered an asylum seeker at his Manchester church for two years has died.

The Rev John Methuen, who allowed Sri Lankan Viraj Mendis to stay in his Hulme parish during an epic deportation row, was 62.

Mr Methuen hit the headlines when, with the backing of the then bishop of Manchester, he moved Mr Mendis into the Church Of The Ascension in 1986.

Mr Mendis, a former UMIST student, had been ordered to return to his homeland by the High Court, but said he would be killed because of his support for the Tamil movement. He moved into the church vestry, which was equipped with a fridge, TV and microwave, but immigration officials, backed by 50 policemen, broke in and deported him in 1989.

Mr Methuen had read theology at Oxford and worked in Reading before moving to Hulme in 1983, when the area was plagued by high-unemployment, poor housing, crime and drugs. After suffering health problems he became Dean of Ripon, Yorkshire, in 1995 but resigned in 2005 .

Mr Mendis, now 54 and head of the International Human Rights Association in Bremen, Germany, said: “This has left a big hole in our lives. Although the sanctuary was defeated, the publicity around the campaign gave me a shield in Sri Lanka. It was impossible for the Sri Lankan government to attack me. Fr John saved my life. I would not be alive if it were not for him.”

Mr Methuen leaves his wife, Bridgett and their two daughters.