It was a love of the works of CS Lewis which first attracted disco legend Donna Summer to Oxford.

But according to one Oxford taxi driver, it was a sign like the one in the picture that really impressed the 1970s singing sensation.

Tour guide Peter Cousin, from Garsington, spent the day with the late star, who died on Thursday, as he personally showed her the sights of the city on a CS Lewis tour in 2004.

The tour included The Kilns, the former Risinghurst home of Mr Lewis, celebrated author of The Chronicles of Narnia.

The pair also took in the Holy Trinity Church, in Headington Quarry, which was Mr Lewis’s final resting place.

But according to the former black cab driver, her fav-ourite part of Oxford was the sign for Summertown, in Banbury Road.

He said: “We were driving down the Banbury Road and she suddenly shouted to her driver to stop.

“She was so excited to see the Summertown sign.

“We stopped and she had her photo taken by it.

“She said she was going to put it on the front cover of an album one day.”

Ms Summer, whose hit records included I Feel Love, Love To Love You Baby and State of Independence, sadly never got to do so.

The 63-year-old died in Florida after battling lung cancer.

The star, whose sound has become synonymous with the 1970s, was in London filming a documentary about the disco movement when she decided to visit Oxford and take the CS Lewis tour.

According to Mr Cousin, who spent most of the day with the singer, her husband and her manager as they were driven around the city in a limousine, Ms Summer was a devout Christian and a fan of the writer.

Mr Cousin said although she may have been the queen of disco, Donna Summer was no diva.

He said: “She was so lovely.

“You expect people like that to be stuck up but she was not at all.

“She was a devout Christian and wanted to learn all about CS Lewis so she could take what she had learned into underprivileged schools and teach them all about him.

“It’s very sad to hear that she has passed away.

“I enjoyed her music. She and her manager gave me their cards, and I still have them today.

“We had a lovely day together.”