HOUSEWIFE Doreen Bates paid tribute to an old schoolfriend this week -- 1960s singer Dusty Springfield, who died on Tuesday.

Mrs Bates told how she remembered the superstar when she was merely Mary O'Brien, of Hylton Road, Sands, during the 1940s.

Mrs Bates revealed: "Dusty used to come down to my house on Lane End Road while her mum was at work and we used to play games together.

"She was a lovely young girl and she used to laugh all the time. I remember her striking red hair the most."

Dusty, whose hits include Son of a Preacher Man and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, died at her home in Henley on Tuesday after a long fight against breast cancer.

The 59-year-old was diagnosed with the illness in 1994. She was awarded an OBE this year for her services to the music industry, but was too ill to collect it in person.

Dusty was born in London, but spent most of her childhood in High Wycombe, attending the former St Bernard's Convent School on The Rye.

Mrs Bates, 59, now of School Road, Tylers Green, first met the future star when they were both just six.

Her mum agreed to babysit Dusty while Mrs O'Brien went to work.

Mrs Bates added: "My mum used to sit Dusty and I on the kitchen table and give us a cup of tea and a biscuit while we waited for her mum to come and collect her."

She said Dusty kept her singing talents hidden away back then. "I never heard her sing. She was a quiet girl and quite a serious girl," she said.

Mrs Bates's brother, Richard Bond, 46, of Telford Way, High Wycombe, said: "Dusty was Wycombe's answer to Elvis and number two Hylton Road was almost a Graceland for us when we were young."

Other former Sands residents also spoke of their memories of Dusty. Retired Ronald Cripps, 61, now of Squirrel Lane, Booker, said: "Sands was a small place then and I used to bump into Dusty as a child quite a lot."

Celebrities in Bucks have paid their own tributes to the signing sensation.

TV's Blind Date hostess Cilla Black, of Tilehouse Lane, Denham, said she was devastated by the loss.

A spokesman for Cilla said: "Though she knew Dusty was ill she can't take the news in. They were friends for more than 30 years."

Des O'Connor, who lives in Gerrards Cross, said: "She had an absolutely distinctive voice and was one of the best singers Britain has ever produced.

"It is a sad, sad loss to the music world."

Dusty's other biggest hits included I Only Want to be With You and her 1987 chart-topper with the Pet Shop Boys, What Have I Done To Deserve This?

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