A 1970s singer has been inspired to write more work after his 40-year-old hit took off on YouTube.

Jeff Collins, who recorded the song Only You in 1972, was spurred back into action when he noticed someone from Italy had put his song on video website YouTube.

Given the lack of publicity, the 64-year-old told the newspaper he was amazed by its popularity.

He said: “The hit is more than 40 years old and all of a sudden I see it's been posted on YouTube by someone I don’t know.

“To my amazement, it has gone up to almost 3,500 hits in the past few months, which was great to see.”

The cab driver, who is originally from Enfield but now lives in Manor Road, Barnet, was first given a recording contract by Radio Luxembourg in the 1970s and saw his song become a hit in Europe.

Mr Collins’ song made it to number 40 in the UK charts for eight weeks in a row and the singer-turned-cab driver was within touching distance of performing on Top of The Pops.

He said: “Top of The Pops told me if my song made into the 30s I could go on their show, but it stubbornly stayed at 40 for eight weeks, which was a shame.

“I still managed to do children’s shows with Granada, which was a great experience.”

Spurred on by his previously popular song coming back into fashion, Mr Collins revealed that he wants to publish more songs.

He said: “I have always loved writing songs and something I would love to get published again if possible.” 

Click below for the video of Mr Collins' hit Only You: