Sayer may head home

He emigrated to Australia two years ago, saying it was clear that the British music industry did not appreciate him.

But now, after a remix of one of his songs gave him his first number one in nearly three decades, Leo Sayer is considering a return to the UK.

The squeaky- voiced singer's Thunder In My Heart, remixed by Los Angeles' DJ Meck, went straight in at the top of the charts last night, beating the likes of Notorious BIG and Beyonce Knowles.

Last night, from his home in Australia, Sayer, 57, told the Daily Mail that the success of the single has inspired him to come home.

'It's amazing,' he said. 'I'm making lots of plans right now and will be back in the UK in the blink of an eye. It's unbelievable to be at number one again, 29 years after the last one which was When I Need You.'

Thunder In My Heart reached only number 22 in the charts when it was released in 1977.

It owes its new popularity to DJ Meck who found it in an old record store and remixed it under the title Thunder In My Heart Again.

Sayer struggled to be appreciated by the music industry even when he was at the height of his fame.

During the Seventies he sold around 20million albums worldwide and had his own BBC television show.

But his distinctive high-pitched voice, frizzy hair and diminutive stature - he is only 5ft 4in tall - meant that he was often ridiculed.